


Misguided Ghosts

by briennejamie



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Fluff, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mystery, Robin sees dead people lmao, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, teen and up to be safe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-04-10 00:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4370870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/briennejamie/pseuds/briennejamie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick Grayson, aka Robin, has been able to see and hear ghosts ever since his parents died. Over the years it's become a part of him, and so helping spirits go into the light has become his secret duty. He's had to keep this a secret from everyone he loves, including his best friend. Said best friend being Wally West, who Dick's had a crush on for a very long time. Trying to keep these things both under wraps is hard enough, but having to deal with some pestering spirits among other things is not the highlight of his day.</p><p>Now there's something very ominous at work, something that's thinning the vale between this world and the next. Although this thing should mainly be unrelated to his life, he's found that it's been affecting him in a negative way. What do any of these happenings have to do with him? How's he supposed to do anything about it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was originally posted on fanfiction.net here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11215717/1/Misguided-Ghosts
> 
> I got this idea while watching Paranorman because of how much I love that movie and I just started thinking 'what if Dick could see ghosts' soooooo I ran with it. I hope you guys like this!

_I just want him to shut up already. It's always been annoying, but today it's annoying times ten._

Robin was sitting at the island, on a high stool, at the mountain. He was trying his hardest to do his homework, which happened to be calculus homework, and if that wasn't horrible enough, Reggy just wouldn't stop talking directly into his ear. He was babbling on and on and on about something that was completely pointless. And the worst part? He couldn't talk back to Reggy unless he wanted to look crazy while other people are around. Why would he look crazy just talking to someone you ask?

About 5 months ago, Reginald (Reggy), Whimsworth (great name, I know) got hit by a car while crossing the street in Gotham, it was a getaway car for a couple of criminals that had just robbed a convenience store. They were being chased by the GCPD so didn't pay any attention to the crosswalk or Reggy. He died on impact.

Reggy was 16. He was a sophomore at Gotham Academy, where he had taken a particular interest in the ward of multi billionaire Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne's ward was a sophomore also, although he was only just turning 15 this year. And when I say that Reggy took an "interest" in Bruce Wayne's ward, I mean he had a complete  _obsession._  Reggy practically  _stalked_ Richard John Grayson. He would follow him around the school all day long, he would constantly flirt, and he would cock block anyone who would attempt to ask Dick out. And now, almost nothing has changed.

Reggy is still following Dick around, but now he's following him  _everywhere,_ even in the afterlife.

Shortly after Dick watched his parents die, he noticed he would see people disappear and/or appear out of no where. When he went to the orphanage, he continued to see people doing this, just different people. At first he thought all this was just a trick of the light, that they just  _looked_ like they were appearing and disappearing. But he soon found that no one else could see these people he was talking about. Sometimes he would see kids no one could see, but mostly old people and adults.

After a little investigating, he was able to identify one of the recurring people he would see. He found out that this person used to be the head of the orphanage he lived in at the time. Mary Wilcut was her name. Dick could see her headstone in the cemetery across the street from his window.

Dick (when he wasn't hiding from the other children, crying, or just trying to survive this living hell in the orphanage) managed to talk to her, and she told him about how the other ghosts she knew talked of a light, and how they would see their dead loved ones there, and so on. She was much nicer than any of the other adults in the orphanage, and Dick liked her a lot.

He managed to help her figure out that the thing keeping her earthbound was the fact that she didn't know what became of her children after she passed. Dick found (after talking to the new head of the orphanage) that both of her children grew up successfully, her daughter a lawyer, and her son a doctor, this made her very happy. So she, with Dick's help, was finally able to move on.

Then after Bruce took him in, he never really got around to mentioning the fact he could see dead people. The biggest reason being lack of words to explain his situation. He decided that it best wait until he could figure out how to say it, and make sure that Bruce wouldn't just write him off as crazy.

So, now Bruce still doesn't know, and Reggy follows Dick everywhere. Reggy continues to follow him because 1, Reggy still loves flirting with him, and 2, Dick is the only one who can see him. Also because Reggy follows Dick everywhere now, he knows that Dick is in fact Robin, the Boy Wonder. Upon learning this, it only made Reggy like even Dick more.

And right now,  _Robin,_ not Dick, sat in Mount Justice, with Reggy talking and talking about how he made one of the kids at Gotham Academy that used to bully him think his locker was haunted.

But M'gann and Superboy were making out in M'gann's room right now, so Robin was alone in the kitchen for the time being.

"Could you please just shut up?" Robin asked with a controlled voice, yet the anger and annoyance were clear behind it. But he still said this quietly so Superboy wouldn't hear it, just incase.

Reggy immediately stopped talking and stared at Robin for a bit, wide eyed. Then Reggy saw that Robin was trying to work, so he sighed and decided to stare at him, dazed in his features. Robin saw the way Reggy was looking at him and let out a groan of annoyance, then looked back to him homework, he was trying to hide the embarrassed blush that appeared on his face. He didn't like Reggy the way Reggy liked him, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing, or flattering, while horrifyingly annoying at the same time when Reggy would either flirt with him, or look at him like he wanted to pounce on him. It wasn't that Reggy wasn't cute, he was, it was just that Dick didn't like him like that. Regardless of the fact that he's gay.

Robin figured this fun fact out when he was 12. He noticed that at school (he went to a middle school with other kids his age, but he took higher classes, and sometimes would teach himself) he would constantly find himself thinking about some of the guys in  _that way_ , and whenever certain guys bent over, they looked... good to say the least. He most definitely couldn't complain about the view. However, one incident in particular really made him question a lot of things.

_Dick was heading to one of his classes, trying to get through the hallways without running into anyone. He finally slid into the classroom and sat down at one of the many desks, he sat in the back. One of his friends, Emma was her name, waved at him and smiled, he waved back and gave her a half smile/smirk. She seemed to get a little redder, and then she looked away. Dick just shrugged it off and looked to the front of the room, the teacher was writing on the board, and Dick was reading as she wrote._

_The class began and Dick payed attention the entire time, but once the class was nearly over, the teacher said they could all talk at a moderate level until class was over. Emma immediately went over to talk to Dick, she sat next to him and began talking about what was going on with her. Dick listened and commented occasionally, then both Emma and Dick heard a particular interesting conversation coming from the popular pretty girls group. They were all talking about how cute a boy named James Parkins was, and Dick couldn't help but concur with everything they were saying about him. How he "has perfect hair" and how his "whole face in general is like a puppy" and how he "has a great butt" once they got to that comment, both Dick and Emma blushed._

_Dick then looked away and continued to talk to Emma, trying to block out the image of James's butt when he bends over in those tight jeans he always wears. Emma was probably thinking about that too, he could see her zoning. Dick then realized that who's butt he was thinking about,_ wasn't  _a girls butt._

Dick went home that day and found himself questioning everything,  _a lot._

So, once he really figured out everything about himself in that account, he accepted it and moved on, a little bit glad that he finally figured out one of the reasons he was different from some of the other kids. Besides the fact that he was the ward to multi billionaire Bruce Wayne, a former acrobat in the circus, and Robin the Boy Wonder.

This (the fact that Dick was gay) some how came to light in Gotham Academy with the other students, and he was definitely made fun of for it, but luckily one of the main guys on the football team was bisexual and he took a step up and defended him, and everyone who is gay or bi. So that could no longer be used against a person (well, not as much). Reggy is also gay, and because of this he found out that Dick was too, and because gays and bi people were more accepted, he decided that then was the perfect time to go after Dick.

When Reggy was alive, he would always stare at Dick constantly. Then Reggy started flirting with him, telling him how he was cute, or how every detail about him was perfect. It was really creepy to say the least, but Dick ignored it for the most part. But now it was hard  _not_ to notice it.

"Sorry cutey, you're just so adorably when you're annoyed," Reggy said smiling wholeheartedly at Robin. Robin looked over at him, Reggy was still in his Gotham Academy uniform, just his tie was loose hanging from his neck. Reggy has (or  _had)_ fluffy brown hair that spiked in the front, and big brown doe eyes that were great for pouting. He was of average build and height, and he was almost always smiling, but sometimes when he stretched and you could see his stomach you would be greeted with the sight of bruises and some cuts from the car hitting him.

Robin just sighed and mumbled "Yeah, if that's right then I must be adorable all the time."

"You got that right sweetie," Reggy replied. Robin then sunk down farther into a slouch at the fact that Reggy heard him. Robin's glasses then began to slide down his nose, exposing bright blue eyes. He finally finished scribbling down the last equation on his paper and sighed with relief. He sat up straight and pushed his glasses back up. He looked over at Reggy who was now trying to pick up one of Robin's pencils, and failing at it. Robin rolled his eyes and got up to go get something to eat.

"You do realize that only the most angry, or the most focused spirits can lift objects," Robin said giving Reggy a side glance, who stopped and looked at Robin, "and I know that you're most definitely neither of the two."

"How's that?" Reggy asked resting his chin in his hands. Robin then looked around the room to make sure no one would walk in on him, then he spoke.

"Cause, if you were angry you wouldn't constantly flirt with me, and if you were focused you would be listening to me right now."

"Hmm?" Reggy said, as he stopped drifting off, looking at Robin. Robin sighed at Reggy's short attention span and went back to ignoring him until he could talk to him again at home. Because for these past months, ever since Reggy died and realized Dick could see him, Dick has been doing what he was meant to do, which was trying to get Reggy to move on. But for some reason, Reggy hasn't been able to figure out why he can't move on, there for they can't address the problem, or fix it. So Reggy is stuck here, and Dick is stuck with Reggy following him around because, besides other ghosts, Dick is the only person who can see him.

"Hey Robin? Who were you talking to?" Superboy walked in, looking at Robin confused. M'gann followed closely behind. Robin looked over at them, then tried to think of something to say.

"Uh, no one. Just talking to myself, I just finished my homework," Robin elaborated. M'gann smiled and dismissed any strange behavior coming from Robin, and because M'gann did, so did Superboy.

M'gann started to get prepared to bake cookies, because Wally would be arriving soon, and so would Artemis, and that means that there would need to be something to distract Wally so he wouldn't fight as much with Artemis. Robin then went back over to his stuff and brought it back into his room in the mountain. As he was setting down his stuff in his room, he heard the electronic female voice from the zeta tubes ring through the mountain.

" _Recognized, Kid Flash, B03. Artemis, B07."_

He then walked back into the kitchen to find that both Wally and Artemis were already sitting at the island. They were slightly bickering as usual, but Wally was more focused on the fact that M'gann was baking cookies.

"When are they gonna be done?" Wally asked while bouncing on his feet.

"Soon, I'm just hoping that I don't burn them too bad, so I'm gonna watch real closely this time!" M'gann responded, with her usual glee. Wally just nodded eagerly, only then noticing the Boy Wonder enter the room, and he sped over to him.

"Hey Rob! You wanna play video games later?" the speedster questioned. Robin just cackled, then replied.

"Sure, I just have to get my hands on one of those cookies before you eat the entire tray." Robin then walked over to the kitchen, Wally close behind. M'gann was staring at the oven, and when she heard the small  _ding,_ she used her telekinesis to pull out two trays of cookies, and set them on the counter. She then poured out the cookies onto two separate plates.

"Okay, this plate is for the team, while the other is for Wally." Wally let out a "yes!" then sped over to his plate and was about to devour them when M'gann stopped him before he burned himself. Reggy laughed at Wally's antics from the corner of the room, and Robin had to stop himself from looking at him.

"Just wait a minute or two for them to cool down," M'gann said calmly, Wally pouted and then nodded. Robin just rolled his eyes and sat next to Wally at the island. They sat like that chatting a bit before Wally yelled,

"They gotta be cool enough now!" and he grabbed some cookies and shoved them down his throat. When M'gann asked if they were still hot, he nodded "no" and continued eating. The team then each grabbed one of the cookies from their separate plate.

"Wow M'gann, you're getting way better at this," Artemis commented, M'gann then replied with a small "thanks" and Artemis smiled back at her. While Wally just scoffed. "What baywatch?" Artemis questioned the speedster.

"Nothing..." Wally just continued snickering, and instead of questioning him, Artemis just glared at him and went back to eating her cookie. Robin just sighed and left the island after taking a cookie, he then plopped down on the couch in front of the TV, Wally now following close behind.

"So dude, what're we gonna do later besides video games, 'cause Bats promised no missions for today. And, as you know, it's Friday! So nothing's going on tomorrow!" Wally then started to rally off different things that they could do tomorrow and later tonight. Then M'gann jumped in suggesting movies they could watch, and she even suggested having a slumber party. She was talking about how they could all sleep out here in the main area in front of the TV.

While the rest of the team joined in on the conversation, Robin was just trying to block out Reggy, who had decided that it would be good for him to right now start rambling on about how he was getting better at making breezes in areas, and making the temperature drop. So now Robin had two completely separate conversations going on around, and at him. It was becoming agitating to say the least. Robin just wanted to yell at them all to shut up, but the team were talking at a regular level that shouldn't be annoying, and he couldn't tell Reggy to shut up without looking crazy. So, he saw it best that he leave.

"Hey Rob, where're you going?" Wally asked as he noticed that his best friend was leaving the room. Of course now the whole team stopped what they were doing to look at the Boy Wonder. Robin just flashed a smile at them and spoke.

"Just gotta ask Bats something, so I'm getting my other communicator so we can talk, I'll probably be in there talking to him for a bit anyway, so just call me back in when you guys decide what to do." That was a viable enough explanation. Plus, everyone knows how secretive bats can be, so no one questioned it.

"Oh, okay. We'll call you back in later," Wally said with a bright smile, although you could see that he was sad to have his best bud not sitting on the couch with him anymore. Robin just nodded then went down the hall into his room, and not known to the team, he wasn't alone.

Reggy was following him into the room, still talking all the way. But once they were in the room, Robin turned to face Reggy, looking him in the eye.

"Reggy, stop talking for a second." Reggy looked back at him, and stopped. He nodded for Robin to continue. Robin sighed and sat down on the bed, he slipped off his sunglasses becoming Richard Grayson. He patted the spot next to him telling Reggy to sit. Reggy sat down, luckily this time not fazing through the mattress.  _He really is getting better_ , Robin thought.

"Reggy, I think that right now we need to keep trying to figure out what's keeping you here, 'cause if we don't, soon you might never be able to leave, and that might drive me insane," Dick stated plainly to Reggy. Reggy just sat there ogling at Dick because he had taken off his sunglasses.

"Reggy!" Dick shouted, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry..." Reggy replied now back in focus. Dick just sighed and went back to business.

"Okay, we need to really find out what's been keeping you earthbound, so we can resolve it, and you can move on," Robin explained once again.

"Yeah, okay, but what happens after I 'move on'," Reggy asked putting air-quotes around 'move on'. Dick just sighed and continued.

"I don't really know exactly, seeing as how I've never actually been there, you know, 'the light' that is."

"Well then how do you know that it's better than here?" Reggy questioned with an accusing tone.

"I don't know, but I trust that it is, all things considered," Dick stated.

"What exactly have you 'considered'?" Reggy once again pried.

"I've considered all the other ghosts I've helped, and the fact that they say when they're about to enter that they see dead family members and friends, and they feel warm and happy." Reggy just pouted at that.

"I don't have any dead family members I like, and I don't have any friends in general, just you. Besides, how can you be sure about the light in the first place regardless of what the other ghosts say?" Reggy asked. Dick sighed again.

"Well, what do you think happens to the ghosts that don't have unfinished business, so they don't stay on Earth?" Dick asked, he used a voice that would commonly be used when an adult was trying to explain something to a child. Reggy frowned at that.

"Uh... go into the light?" Reggy tried to make it sound like he didn't know what happens to those people so he wouldn't have to state his reason for staying on Earth. Even though he did have a reason, but he just didn't want to say it, because if he did, it would only make things awkward.

"Correct. They have already moved on from the world of the living so they don't need to stay here." Reggy just sighed slightly, and Dick just stared at him waiting for him to say something. Dick was waiting for Reggy to tell him what was keeping him here.

"Cool... about the whole 'moving on' thing... But I just..." Reggy trailed off hoping that he could avoid telling Dick what was keeping him earthbound, he had been avoiding it for the past six months after all.

"Just what?" Dick asked semi harshly which he probably shouldn't have done.

"It just that I really really like you and If I go into the light that means I won't be able to talk to you until you die... and you're really the only person that ever even bothered to  _try_ and be nice to me when I was alive, and... and I really don't want to have to lose someone that is so important, that someone who happens to be you..." Dick looked at him semi awestruck, and couldn't reply. He knew that Reggy liked him like that, but he hadn't realized he had gone far past that. He was in  _love_ with him.

"O-oh... well... that's no excuse. You still have to move on, besides, in my line of work it's not like I'm gonna live 'till I'm a hundred," Dick said trying to kill the awkward and lighten the mood. Reggy laughed slightly at his dark joke then smiled at him with bright eyes.

"Thanks I guess... and, I guess I'll start working on  _really_ moving on." Dick smiled at the fact that he may have just made a breakthrough with Reggy after all these months. Reggy smiled back at him. Dick let out a subtle sigh of relief and put on his sunglasses. He then left his room, knowing Reggy was trailing close behind, and went to see if the others had decided on something to do tonight.

"Oh! Rob, hey! We figured out what we're gonna do tonight!" Wally shouted to Robin, once he saw him enter.

"Cool, but I'm not staying at the mountain tonight, just a warning," Robin said smiling. Wally seemed to darken at the fact that Robin wasn't to stay the night, but he seemed to push it aside quickly and brightened back up.

"That's fine, we'll just plan this so the movie we planned to watch will end before you have to leave." Robin nodded, and the rest of the team seemed in agreement.

"So, what are we gonna watch?" Robin asked taking a seat on the couch. M'gann brightened at the question.

"Because it's October, we decided that in celebration of the Earth holiday 'Halloween' we should watch  _Haunted Mansion_ ," M'gann said with glee.

"You mean the movie with Eddie Murphy?" Robin asked, he could already hear Reggy talking about how he "loves that movie" and how he "can't wait to watch it again".

"Yep, that movie's a classic. Plus, we didn't want to scare M'gann to death with any  _real_ scary halloween movie," Wally responded. Robin nodded, and tried to block out Reggy's yammering.

"Makes sense," Robin offhandedly replied. They all then abandoned the conversation, and went back to what they were doing. Robin pulled out his computer, and began checking over case files that Batman had organized. But it was hard to concentrate with Reggy sitting awful close, trying his best to snuggle next to him, but that's kinda hard considering he's dead.

"Reggy..." Robin mumbled out of the corner of his mouth, hoping that no one heard him.

"What...?" Reggy mumbled back, trying to snuggle closer, even though he knew Robin couldn't feel him for real, just his presence.

"If you scoot any closer, you'll end up inside me," Robin mumbled back, while everyone was too wrapped up with what they were doing.

"Is that so?" Reggy asked, his voice getting higher at the end. He then scooted closer.

"Wh-what?" Robin stuttered, growing bright red, realizing just how wrong what he said sounded. "That's not what I meant, and you know it!" Robin whisper screamed. Reggy laughed at Robin's embarrassment, then scooted away to a more comfortable, platonic, position. Robin then sighed, and looked up, only to make eye contact with Superboy, who was looking at him weird. ' _Crap! He probably heard me!'_ Robin internally screamed at himself.

Superboy was still staring at him, so Robin just nodded "sup" to him and acted as if nothing was wrong. Superboy just narrowed his eyes a little more, then he shrugged slightly, and looked back to M'gann, who was making more cookies for tonight, and Wally.

Robin let out a sigh of relief and went back to what he was doing. Reggy looked slightly guilty for getting him caught talking to "nobody".

"Sorry?" Reggy said smiling, hoping he wouldn't get yelled at for this later. Robin gave him a side glare, then shook it off and continued working.

Luckily for Robin, the rest of the night went smoothly. They watched  _Haunted Mansion_ , which for some reason, was funnier with Reggy mouthing all the words and making funny impressions. But he couldn't laugh, so he just had to hold in his snickers. He got a weird look from Wally, who later asked what was funny, besides the obvious, which was the movie. Robin just said that he'd seen this movie a lot, and that it get's better everytime. Which it totally does, by the way. Wally bought what he was selling, and Robin went happily through the movie, laughing all the way.

Robin left when the movie was done, and it seemed like Wally kept trying to make him stay, but he told him that he had "bat business". Once Robin got back to the manor, he immediately changed into his 'comfy clothes' and said hi to Alfred, telling him he finished his homework before asked, and then he asked where Bruce was.

"Master Bruce is currently on patrol. He would have asked you to accompany him, but he knew you were spending time with your team, and decided not to intrude." Dick smiled and nodded, glad that Bruce wasn't just  _not_  including him. Dick then went up to his room, and shut the door. When he turned back around, Reggy was sitting on his bed.

"Really Reggy? Sometimes I want to be  _alone,_ you know?" Robin said, then he went to his desk to work on his laptop. Reggy just shrugged.

" _Do_  you want to be alone?" Reggy asked. Robin just looked at him straight in the eye.

"Yes." Reggy nodded, and disappeared. Robin sighed in relief, finally alone...

" _Robin."_ Robin almost jumped out of his skin. Batman's voice crackled through his comlink, Robin sighed and pressed it to his ear, before pressing the button on the side.

"Robin here, currently Dick Grayson however," Robin responded after taking a second to calm down.

" _Dick, I just wanted to make sure you got home okay."_ Robin sighed, and rolled his eyes slightly at his mentor.

"Yes, I got home via the zeta tubes from inside a high tech mountain, safely. Because there's so much danger in that." You could almost hear Batman roll his eyes.

" _Good. I have a feeling that this patrol will last all night, so I'll hopefully see you in the morning."_ Robin mentally took note of the 'hopefully' Batman put in there. Robin responded with a "okay" and Batman cut the signal. Robin sighed and looked over at his clock.

_11:46 pm_

Robin decided that this was a good a time as any to get some rest, he hadn't gotten too much sleep in the past week due to patrol, training, school, and over all insomnia. He got under the covers and curled up.

_Hopefully Reggy won't wake me up in the middle of the night again..._


	2. Chapter 2

Wally began to stir from his slumber, and he could already feel the morning eye crust flaking off as he blinked his blurry vision away. He sat up at the empty feeling in his stomach, and the smell of syrup wafting through the mountain. He sprung to his feet, disregarding the fact that he was still only in his oversized red t-shirt and orange and yellow plaid boxers, he ran out the door towards the smell. He skidded into the room to find that M'gann was already putting the pancakes on plates, and the Boy Wonder himself was sitting on one of the stools, his computer in front of him. Robin was already dressed. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt that clung to him just right, his black skinny jeans (that were a  _great_ pleasure to the eye), his sunglasses, and his usual black converse. His sweatshirt and leather jacket were draped over the couch.

Wally only then realized that he just got up, and he  _definitely_ looked that way too. Wally had to hold back a blush as he felt a breeze go by his legs,  _I am most definitely still in only my boxers..._ Wally thought to himself. Then his thoughts were interrupted by Robin cackling.

"Wow, you must  _really_ be hungry if you were willing to disregard getting dressed, and just come in here, in only a t-shirt and boxers," Robin said smiling at his friend. Wally just laughed a little too.

"Yeah, well you know, I  _really_ love food," Wally said trying to brush this off, acting like he had no insecurities whatsoever about his best friend seeing him in his boxers.

That's right, he was more embarrassed that  _Robin_ was seeing him in his boxers, than M'gann, who is a  _girl._ Why? Well, just because Wallace West, and Kid Flash alike, both had a  _majorly huge_ crush on the Boy Wonder, and Richard Grayson alike (yes, he  _does_ know Robin's secret ID).

"It doesn't matter," M'gann laughed, "how about some pancakes?" she said, snapping Wally out of his daze. Wally just nodded vigorously and sat next to Robin, trying to brush off the awkward. But sitting so close to Robin only made him feel more flustered, because now their legs were  _touching._ Wally's bare one, against Robin's jeaned one. But Wally tried to ignored this, as M'gann set a huge stack of pancakes in front of him, leaving the bottle of syrup within his grasp. Wally took the hint, and began to drown his stack of fluffy pancakes in the sugar saturated molasses. Robin just rolled his eyes and went back to his pancakes, while M'gann just went back to the stove to make more.

The rest of the team woke up minutes later, first Kaldur, then Artemis. Wally asked M'gann where Superboy was, and she just said he was in the training room, and that he already had some pancakes. Artemis laughed at Wally for the fact that he was in his boxers, he just stuck his tongue out at her, and went back to eating his pancakes.

The rest of the morning went like so, they all went about their routines, then training (Wally got dressed for that), then M'gann suggested that they all go out and see "the sights" because they would be having no missions for the weekend. They all agreed and got ready.

Robin was already dressed, and it was kind of cold, so he slipped on his blue sweatshirt and put on his leather jacket over it. He sat down on the couch and began going over some files. He couldn't get the image of Wally in his boxers out of his head though, and believe me, those boxers left very  _little_ to the imagination. He also couldn't help but think about just how cute Wally was about it, getting all flustered, and how whenever he would pout, he would look like a puppy, and how he...

"Hey Dickie!" Robin almost jumped out of his skin, Reggy appearing next to him, sitting uncomfortably close. Robin was just trying to calm himself down from sudden shock.

"You scared the  _shit_ out of me, Reggy." Reggy just laughed then smiled more at Robin's comment.

"Oh, so you swear? Sexy." Robin just grumbled something under his breath, he got up, putting his computer away. He made his way back to the island, and sat down. Reggy walked over to him and sat next to him. "So, you gonna talk to me at all today my sweet?" Reggy asked, trying to sound innocent. Robin could swear Reggy was the only person who could turn every single sentence into a flirtation.

"No," Robin grumbled as quietly as he could. He knew that his entire team were each in their rooms, getting ready, and he already risked a lot just getting startled by Reggy, also just plain talking to him.

"Awh, come on! Can't you just ditch the team just this once, and spend the day with  _me?_ " Reggy begged. Robin just looked over at him and sighed.

"No, because no one can see you, you know that, and everytime I talk to you when I'm not alone, I look crazy," Robin growled out as low as he could. "And, no because I already spend nearly every second with you now." Reggy just pouted and sighed.

"Yeah, well usually there are other people around and stuff so it doesn't really count. So why can't we just be alone in your room at the manor, then you can talk to me, and we'll be, you know,  _alone_ , just the two of us, in a  _giant bedroom_..." Robin looked over at his like he was crazy. "What?" Reggy questioned. Robin looked around before replying.

"You do realize you're  _dead,_ right? And that I'm  _not?_ Plus, you know that I like you as a  _friend,_ and it's not even like we could  _do_ anything regardless," Robin said in hushed tones. Reggy's eyes visibly brightened.

"So, what you're saying is, that if we  _could_ do something, we  _would?"_ Robin just looked at Reggy, bewildered.

"No! That's not what I said, you heard me say I like you as a  _friend!_ Heck, barely even that at this rate! And nothing more!" Robin yelled while whispering at the same time. Reggy just looked at little stunned, and hurt. He cast his gaze down, and before Robin could say anything else, he disappeared.  _Well I never thought I would actually do that anytime soon, guess I'm not as nice as I thought. Then again, I shouldn't have to listen to his unwanted flirtations all the time anyway. He doesn't really have the right to be mad at me for it... but I still shouldn't have been so..._

"Hey Robin, who were you talking to?" Artemis asked as she walked in the room.

"... Absolutely no one."

* * *

The team were all walking down town, looking at shops and things. Wally kept insisting on stopping for food, and they all decided by that time that they were all a little hungry. So they stopped at a little place called the  _Bay Breeze Café._ They all picked a table and ordered. Wally pretty much ordered the menu (that includes all kinds of cake and ever hot chocolate known to man), while Artemis just ordered some black coffee and a blueberry muffin, Kaldur ordered some earl gray tea and a bagel with cream cheese, M'gann ordered some lemonade (despite the fall season) and a strawberry muffin, Superboy got water and a plain bagel, and Robin decided on mint hot chocolate and a pistachio muffin.

They all chatted while eating, Artemis trying to restrain herself from making a comment about Wally's eating habits. Everything was pretty good. Until Robin heard a woman asking for help.

He looked over while the rest of the team were still talking, and he saw the women leaning over tables, asking if they could help her, if they could  _see_ her. That's when Robin realized that this woman was dead. She looked in her about mid to late 40's, she had dirty blonde and gray shoulder length hair, and she was dressed for the season. She was wearing a brown wool jacket, underneath that she had on a flower patterned sweater, that's main colors were yellow, and orange. She was also wearing a pair of light brown khakis, and she had brown leather boots on that went up to her ankle, and zipped up from the side.

Robin looked as she asked if people could see her, then she noticed Robin looking at her, and made eye contact. Robin quickly looked back to the team, and he could see the woman coming over to him at the corner of his eye.

"You can see me!" she practically shouted into Robin's ear, Robin only flinched slightly. He tried to wait for a moment when they (the team) were all talking to one and other and wouldn't notice him looking at "nothing."

"I know you can, I saw you!" Robin, when everyone was turned away, looked over at her and nodded. She smiled super bright, and was about to tell him her life story when-

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, be back in a sec," Robin said to his team louder than necessary, they nodded, and he stood up and shuffled for the bathroom, trying to make sure the woman was following him. He walked into the men's room and checked to see if anyone was around, there was no one. Luckily the woman followed him into the bathroom without hesitation, he was half expecting her to ask him if they could talk  _anywhere but_ the men's room. Robin turned to face her, and she looked at him to say something.

"So, you said you needed help. Died recently I guess, what's your name?" Robin said after a small awkward silence. The woman just looked a little startled and said,

"Oh, my name's Ellen, and, um, yes, I have some, um, how do I put this...uh..."

"Unfinished business?" Robin finished for her.

"Yes! That's it!" Robin was now just surprised that she was cutting straight to the point. Most ghosts asked for meaning, or why he was the only one who could see them, or what they were supposed to do now.

"What is your 'unfinished business' then?" Robin asked her.

"I need you to tell my daughter that I have a hidden college fund account for her that I never told anyone about." Robin looked slightly bewildered.

"That's it?" Robin asked. She nodded.

"Yep, My address is 5 Spruce Road, it's in Portland, my house should be fairly easy to spot." Robin nodded. "When you get there, just ask for Kelly." Robin nodded again, and she smiled. She turned suddenly, and smiled even brighter.

"Is that..." She pointed to an empty space, Robin could only assume what she was seeing.

"The light? Yep, and you should go into it, I'll get that message to your daughter." The woman smiled, and she stepped forward, and disappeared. Robin sighed, and left the men's room. He was just happily surprised by how little he had to do for her.

Usually it takes him about 20 minutes to get the person to understand what's going on, and even longer for them to finally get to their point. But Robin could only guess that she probably died peacefully, therefore leaving her with no anger. So she only cared about getting her small message across, and Robin just couldn't wait to see the odd reactions on this woman's daughter's face when he told her that he just 'happened to know that her deceased mother kept a hidden college fund for her that no one else knew about besides her and obviously a strange 15 year old that they had never met before in their life'. Robin shrugged that off, he was used to doing this sort of thing by now. So, he went back over to their table and sat back in his spot next to Wally.

"Dude, what took you so long?" Wally asked looking at him like he had just spent an hour in there. Artemis then commented,

"Yeah, it's been like," she looked down at her watch, "5 minutes. I thought boy's pee'd fast" Robin just shrugged at them, he didn't realize that the time he'd taken contemplating the short amount of time this woman took to get to her point made his visit to the bathroom longer than anticipated.

"I wasn't  _just_ going to the bathroom. I had to call Batman about a case we're working on."  _Yeah, that works,_ Robin thought. His team shrugged, and took the excuse.

They finished eating in peace, no more ghosts, no Reggy. Things were pretty good.

They left the café soon after, and headed back towards the cave, a successful outing in their books. A really successful outing in Robin's too, considering he didn't get caught helping that woman. But now he has to go talk to that woman's daughter. He'd have to deal with the rest of the family too, but he was happy to help.

So, Robin gave the team a quick goodbye, using the excuse "bat stuff", he told Bruce that he was going to Barbra's (he also mentioned to Babs to cover for him) and he sped away on one of his civilian motorcycles towards 5 Spruce Road Portland.

* * *

Upon arriving in Portland, the day had turned down an even more cold and moist path than earlier, yet it didn't feel dreary like Gotham, just misty and very fall like. Robin kept his sunglasses firmly in place as not to be recognized, and he pulled slowly down Spruce Road. He kept looking from house to house, waiting to see the number  _5_ on any of the mailboxes. Luckily the house was fairly easy to spot (just like the woman said) because it was not only on the side of their mailbox, but they had a stone in the lawn that said  _5 Spruce Road._

Robin slowed and parked on the street next to the house. It was a medium community sized house that was entirely painted a purple gray color. Robin hopped off his bike, setting his helmet on the handlebar, and walked up the long drive way toward the front door.

Even though this wasn't Robin's first time going to a complete strangers family telling them something either entirely random that their deceased loved one wanted them to know, or doing the whole "s/he's here with us and s/he want's you to know.." blah blah blah thing, it never takes away the nervousness that he'll just embarrass himself in front of these people and then get the police called on him. But he couldn't fret now that he was already standing on their porch.

Robin reached up to his face, pushing his sunglasses up a bit further, and he rung the doorbell. He only had to wait about 3 seconds before hearing a set of heavy footsteps coming down a set of hardwood stairs, approaching the door. He could count down to when the door would finally open, and when it did behind it revealed a tall average weighted brunet man who was currently dressed in a black shirt and dark jeans. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping much, and he had kind type of loneliness in his eyes.

"Yes?" the man asked as he stared down at Robin. Robin was shaken from his thoughts, and he looked up at them man, trying to think of something to say.

"Um, yeah, may I speak to your daughter Kelly?" Robin asked, trying to fit his words together. The man looked a bit confused, but the kindness was still there.

"Uh, sure. What exactly is this about, before I get her?" he asked. A perfectly reasonable question, and Robin didn't have a perfectly reasonable answer, so he just went with as much truth as possible.

"It's about your deceased wife, Ellen. My condolences, by the way." Robin saw the shock on the man's face, and he was just praying to god right now that he wasn't at the wrong house, otherwise this would look very strange.

"Oh, uh, I see... Um... Have we met anywhere before?" the man asked another perfectly reasonable question.

"Uh, no. But I met your wife once before at the  _Bay Breeze Café,_ " Robin went with. He knew that Ellen must've been to the café before, otherwise she wouldn't have been there in the first place.

"Oh, really? That makes more sense, she loved going there after work. Did you meet her there with Kelly?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, and I just need to talk to her, so..." Robin looked at his feet, then back at the man.

"Of course." The original depressing warmth was back in his eyes, replacing the confusion. "I'll go get her and leave you to it." The man went back into the house and went calling for his daughter. Luckily the man would most likely leave him to talk to Kelly alone because Robin never did look too much like any sort of threat at all.

"Yes?" Now Robin heard a fainter, higher voice he could only assume was Kelly. Robin looked up, meeting the eye's of a 16 or 17 year old girl with flowing dirty blonde hair. She was only about an inch taller than Robin, and she was wearing a blue softball uniform. Robin took an intake of breath, and began his tale, hoping to get this over with with a minimal amount of questions he couldn't answer asked.

"Um, hi, my name's Robin, and, uh, I have a message from your mother, Ellen." Kelly looked very shocked at what she was hearing. She didn't know what to say at first.

"Is this a joke?" Robin looked slightly offended, yet not totally unprepared for a question like that, and he continued.

"No, of course not. I, um, just met your mother once and she told me this, and I thought it best to tell you." Kelly nodded, going along with his tale for only the time being.

"So...?" Robin took another breath.

"So, um, she told me, to tell you, that in the event she couldn't tell you this herself, that she has a hidden college fund account for you that only she knew about," Robin slightly rambled out, now waiting for a response. Kelly was just blank faced for a moment before replying.

"That does sound like something my mom would do, but this little story you're telling has a lot of holes, and I don't feel like letting you fill them. So, bye." She started to close the door on him, when he stopped her by saying,

"Just check all that accounts under her name, and see if there are any hidden ones, okay?" Robin said politely. Kelly hesitantly nodded, and shut the door even more slowly this time. Robin just sighed, and walked back across the dew covered grass to his bike.

As he was getting his helmet on, he noticed a face looking at his through one of the upstairs windows, it was Kelly. She was looking at him almost intensely, and Robin could tell that she was just hoping that he didn't just lie to her, that there was some truth to what he said. Just something that could possibly connect her to her mother again, something that Robin always hoped for. She wouldn't be disappointed.

She then shut the curtains in her window, and Robin left 5 Spruce Road Portland for hopefully the last time.

* * *

"When do you think Rob will be back?" Wally asked Artemis as he sped through out the kitchen, searching for something to eat. Artemis rolled her eyes at his antics, and scoffed.

"I don't know, Kid Idiot. He'll probably be back in no time, but I can't really tell you," she said as she continued to watch him go back and forth between cabinets, and the fridge. He was already holding a loaf of bread, peanut butter, jelly, jam, fluff, bananas, an apple, a jug of milk, and a plate. For some reason he wouldn't put the items down on the counter until he found whatever else it was that he was looking for, which Artemis thought was stupid. But she was sort of concerned as to what the speedster was going to do with everything; besides making a super sandwich. Artemis continued to watch as Wally sped around the room, when she heard the sound of Red Tornado opening the doors to the garage.

Artemis looked back over to the kitchen to tell Wally that Robin was back, but he had already disappeared, leaving a pile of food on the counter next to his plate.

"Hey, Rob! What took you so long to get back?" Wally practically shouted as Robin set his helmet down on the seat of his bike. He looked over at Wally and smiled, obviously glad to see him.

Robin was just about to tell Wally that he got caught in traffic, when Wally continued.

"Where'd you go anyway?" Wally was now standing directly in front of him, smiling; yet he was still waiting for his answer. Robin wasn't expecting the question, even though he should have, so it took a moment for him to gather his thoughts.

"Uh, I was just out with Bats, like I told you before I left," Robin said, hoping that would get him off. It didn't though.

"Well, yeah, I  _know_ that. But, I meant, like, where did you  _go,_ go?" Wally explained himself, and Robin took a small moment to think up something good for the speedster.

"We were just wandering Gotham, looking for evidence as to where, uh, Scarecrow, is right now," Robin said as smoothly as possible. He always hated lying to Wally, that was part of the reason he told Wally his secret ID.

"Oh, 'kay," Wally brushed everything off, and smiled. "I was just about to make myself a snack, if you wanted anything?" They were walking back towards the kitchen, and Wally saw Artemis standing there still.

"No thanks Wals, hey Artemis," Robin said as he moved into the kitchen, and sat down on one of the stools. Artemis responded with a 'hey' back, and Wally went back to making whatever it was that he was making. Artemis rolled her eyes again, and sat next to Robin.

"So, how was 'bat stuff', fun?" Artemis asked, putting air quotes around  _bat stuff,_ as if she wasn't entirely convinced by his means of leaving the mountain. Robin just shrugged.

"Ya know, batty and stuffy; as usual," Robin replied with a smirk. Artemis scoffed lightly, and went back to watching the speedster as he smeared all manner of condiments on pieces of bread. Robin watched too.

"You sure you don't want anything?" Wally asked again. Robin just shook his head.

"Nah, I've had my fill of about everything for today." Wally just gave him a confused look, along with Artemis, and shrugged it off.

"Well, your loss."

They chatted for about a good ten minutes while Wally ate his strange sandwich contraption, then M'gann and Superboy came back from wherever it was they were.

"Hey M'gann," Robin said, waving at her.

"Hi guys!" she replied cheerily back. Wally looked over at her, she was clinging to Superboy and looking at him in a lovey-dovey way. Wally was just about to flirt with M'gann as usual, despite her obvious relationship with Superboy, but he looked back over at Robin and felt he really didn't need to play the flirtatious straight guy right now. But that didn't mean he was going to start flirting with Robin, no matter how much he wanted to, he knew that he'd just be opening himself up for awkward silences and rejection.

"What have  _you two_  been up to lately?" Artemis asked suggestively, while wiggling her eyebrows a bit. M'gann blushed, Robin laughed, and Superboy looked confused, while Wally was just plain not paying attention.

"Nothing much, we were just on the beach for a bit," M'gann said awkwardly blushing, as she clung a little bit more to Superboy, smiling. Artemis had a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, and she hummed a bit.

"I see, was that  _all_ you two were doing, while you were alone;  _together,_ on the beach?" she asked while emphasizing her thoughts on what they were  _really_ doing down on the beach. If it's possible, M'gann's blush grew even deeper, and Robin had to stifle his snickering. Even Superboy was shifting a bit uncomfortably.

"Well..." M'gann searched for words she would never find, and Robin couldn't take it anymore.

"Don't worry Megs, we know about you and Supes here," Robin said, and Artemis shot him a glare; she was hoping that she could hold this out for as long as possible.

"Oh, really? Were we that obvious?" she asked, and Robin burst out laughing with Artemis close behind.

"Ob- _obvious_?! M'gann, we saw it before you did!" Artemis said in between laughing at the couples awkwardness. Then, even M'gann couldn't help but giggle at the fact that she even thought that it was a secret. Then they were all laughing, even Superboy was smiling because his girlfriend was smiling.

But Wally wasn't laughing, he was too caught up watching  _Robin_ laugh. Him smiling, giggling to his heart's content, his eyes lighting up; you could even see it behind the sunglasses. Wally was smiling like an idiot, and no one questioned it; considering they were all laughing and smiling like idiots. He just wasn't smiling for the same reason.

"Well, looks like all your flirting has gotten you no where, and never will for that matter," Artemis said, calming from her laughter along with everyone else. But Wally did notice he was still staring at Robin.

"Wally?" Artemis asked again, trying to get his attention, he hummed and looked over at her, coming out of his trance.

"Huh?" he asked, looking at the archer. Now everyone was looking at him. Including Robin, who, for some reason, didn't even notice Wally staring at him before.

"I said something to you, and you just kept smiling like an idiot looking at the Boy Wonder here," Artemis said, and Robin looked at Wally, cocking a thin black eyebrow. Wally now felt the spotlight hit him, and he felt a blush creep up on him, consuming his cheeks, masking his freckles in red. Wally wasn't sure what to say now, considering he could just  _tell them_ that he was staring at his best friend for reasons not so "friend-like". He especially couldn't say that when said best friend was staring at him intensely in confusion.

"Uh, I was just laughing with you guys and got distracted by, uh, my food!" Wally said frantically, hoping that they'd all buy it. M'gann and Superboy went with it, while Artemis couldn't say it wasn't likely (he really loves his food), but Robin could see straight through that little white lie.

"Alright, we'll go with that, since no one can deny your eating habits," Artemis said, settling the subject to rest. Wally grinned at the fact his little lie worked, and went back to eating his snack. While M'gann and Superboy went over to the couch to sit and watch TV for a bit, and Artemis left to go train for a bit. But Robin remained at the counter, Wally noticed this immediately, along with the look the boy wonder was giving him.

"What?" Wally asked, and he finished the last of his sandwich. Robin just tilted his head and gave him a look that said 'I-can-see-straight-through-that-lie-you-tried-to-sell'. Wally gulped.

"Mind telling me what you were really smiling like an idiot about?" Robin said, expecting a truthful answer this time. Wally just looked like a deer caught in headlights.  _What am I supposed to say? 'Oh, I was just admiring how gorgeous you are, wanna go out?' He'll probably hit me!_ Wally screamed at himself. Robin could see his distress, and sighed.

"It's fine Wally, I can tell that you probably don't want to say."  _Understatement of the year,_ Wally thought, but Robin continued. "But whatever it is, it caused a problem in your pants."  _What?,_ then Wally looked down and saw what Robin was referring to, and he most definitely wasn't talking about the jelly stain on his pant leg either. No, he was referring to the newly created bulge coming from his crotch.

Wally's face flushed bright red, and Robin giggled a bit, only causing the problem to grow in size. So, Wally did the only thing he saw fit; he booked it out of the kitchen and to his room as fast as possible. Leaving Robin having to stop himself from laughing. Oh, but he wouldn't be laughing if he knew he was the  _cause_ of the problem.

Robin calmed himself down at the counter as he noticed something in the corner of his eye.

"Where've you been Reggy?" Robin asked, and Reggy appeared sitting by his side. Robin sighed, and looked at him.

"Out and about, you know..." Reggy said after a bout of silence. Robin then looked down, and sighed again.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," Reggy nodded, a small smile came to his features, and Robin continued. "But you have to realize that not only am I your  _friend,_ and that's that, and you have to come to grips with the fact that you're  _dead._ Even if you can talk to me whenever because I can see you, that doesn't mean that you're  _alive._ Do you understand?" Reggy looked down at his hands, and nodded. Robin let a smile overcome him, and he nudged the stool Reggy was materialized on, and he looked up.

"I understand. I just wish I had tried to do more when I was alive, you know, like... well yeah. That's all," Reggy said solemnly.

"Yeah, me too."


	3. Chapter 3

Robin was sitting on the couch in front of the TV with the rest of the team. They were all watching another movie,  _Coraline,_ at M'gann's request.

None of them minded, they were all in agreement on the movie, despite it being more of a kids movie. Artemis made the joke that Robin still is a kid, and that this movie was made for his age group. Robin didn't deny the fact that the target audience went to his age group, but he  _did_ make the argument that most kids his age don't run around Gotham at night taking down mad men and murderers. Artemis had no comebacks for that one.

But the movie was actually pretty creepy, and Kaldur said that he never would have gone in the small door  _in_   _the_   _first place._ While M'gann said she probably would have, but would have known not to come back after seeing the buttons on the eyes. Wally just reminded them that Coraline thought it was all a dream at first and made the argument of 'who could pass up all that food?' which got him some well deserved eye rolls.

Reggy was watching with them, not to anyone but Robin's knowledge of course, and he was actually sitting comfortably next to Robin without practically trying to sit in his lap. He was still sitting close to Robin, but not so in a way that Robin felt the need to scoot away from him.

So Robin was in between both Reggy and Wally, both sitting closer to him than a platonic male friend would.

Artemis noticed Wally sitting close to his best friend though, which he always does. She wondered if Wally sitting so close was just a thing with their friendship, and there's nothing wrong with that, or if Wally was sitting close to him  _on purpose._ Artemis couldn't help but snicker at the thought of the red head having a crush on his best friend. Because not only could Artemis tease him about it, but Wally would have to stop flirting with M'gann to be in any relationship with Robin.

But, he can't have a crush on Robin because Wally is possibly the straightest guy in the entire world. Right?

Then again he could also be the most  _bisexual_ guy in the world, which would only give evidence to prove her theory that Wally would in fact flirt with anything that has human genitalia and was even mildly attractive.

"Please don't go back in again!" M'gann squealed as she watch Coraline on the screen go into the small door once again, she had a bad feeling about the other mother even without knowing what happens later. Artemis nodded in agreement, but couldn't say that she wouldn't  _not_ want to get away from people like her father to a better one if she could. So, she couldn't blame Coraline in the slightest, no matter how childish it was to believe in a perfect world.

"I don't think she can hear you," Superboy bluntly stated, and Wally laughed a bit at that.

"Supes is right sweet cheeks," Wally said, earning himself a glare from both Superboy and Artemis for the sweet cheeks comment. While M'gann just looked at her hands for a moment before looking at the screen and going back to watching the movie. Wally gave them all a look that said 'don't-kill-me-or-anything-sorry' and also set his attention back to the screen. The rest did the same, along with Reggy, but Robin's attention was now on Wally.

Robin was wondering why Wally continued to flirt with M'gann constantly even though they all knew that M'gann and Superboy were going out for sure now. It was kind of agitating seeing Wally constantly flirt with anything even remotely female and attractive. When ever he did it Robin couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy, like for some reason he always wanted it to be  _him_ that Wally was flirting with. Which was completely crazy of course. Wally was the straightest of the straight, and even if he wasn't he wouldn't be interested in his best friend.

"Dick?" Reggy tried to nudge Robin when he noticed him staring at the speedster, who had yet to notice. Robin looked over at him and tilted his head in question.

"Hmm?" Robin hummed quietly hoping that it was a discreet enough noise as to not alert the team's attention; it was. Reggy just stared at Robin for a moment, admiring how adorable he looked whenever he tilted his head...

"You were staring at Wally," Reggy told him, Robin nodded in confirmation and only then did he realize that he really was staring for a long time. Robin quickly looked back to the movie, and pretended not to notice Reggy staring at him with confusion.

Reggy could see the way Robin was looking at Wally, and he couldn't stand it. Even though he realized that no matter what he did, he would always be dead, and there was nothing he could do to make Robin like him like how he likes Robin. But that didn't mean that watching Robin look at Wally like how Reggy usually looks at Robin didn't hurt. Reggy wanted Robin to look at  _him_ that way, not Wally.

Reggy could tell from the start that Wally liked Robin,  _a lot._ But Reggy didn't try anything against Wally, or try to tell Robin about Wally's feelings. He could completely understand why Wally liked Robin, there was nothing  _not_ to like about Robin. Reggy could also tell that Robin liked Wally back, whether he realized it or not, and this made him upset. But he died, and there was nothing he could do about it, and he couldn't force Robin to like him; but that wouldn't stop his flirtations. That was for sure, because flirting with Dick/Robin was Reggy's favorite thing to do.

Reggy brushed this event off though, and went back to watching the movie with them, but not before scooting closer to Robin. He was hoping that he could make Robin forget about Wally, even if only for a little while. But Robin just looked over at Reggy briefly, then looking back at the movie knowing that he couldn't scoot away from Reggy anymore. Because if he did, he'd end up practically in Wally's lap. So Robin tried to relax.

"I didn't realize that mice had such musical and dancing talent!" M'gann commented with glee, and the others laughed.

"M'gann, it's  _fiction._ Aka, not real. Mice can't actually dance or play tiny instruments," Artemis said back, and M'gann seemed slightly disappointed. But she shrugged, and Superboy just readjusted his comforting hold on M'gann as he went back to the movie. Wally's eyes grazed over the couple, and he didn't know whether to be disappointed or... appointed? At least, that's what Robin would say about it.

Wally sighed at the thought of Robin, and he spared a glance over to Robin at his side. He knew that with M'gann and Superboy being an official couple he couldn't continue his open flirtations like always had earlier. It was not like he actually wanted to continue his constant flirting with M'gann anyway, since he liked Robin. Also, he has more grown to feel that M'gann was like a sister to him, not a love interest. Regardless, Robin held all of Wally's affections, and Robin doesn't even know the hold he has on the speedster.

Wally stared back at the screen, but he was no longer really seeing what was going on, all he could see was the fact that Robin seemed to be growing uncomfortable for some reason.

That reason being the fact that Reggy was now "scootching" closer to Robin to the point where he was almost in his lap. Robin thought he'd cleared this matter up when he talked to Reggy about this, but apparently not. Or maybe it was the fact that Robin was staring at Wally? Could Reggy just be responding out of jealousy? Robin hoped not, he didn't think he could deal with Reggy knowing about Robin's feelings for Wally, albeit unrequited. 

So when a loud part in the movie came on, Robin's eyes shot over to Reggy.

"I thought we talked about this," Robin whispered, knowing Reggy could hear him at this close proximity. Hopefully Superboy could not hear them though, he didn't appear to.

"I know, I know. I just... got cold?" Reggy said with a shrug, not wanting to have to explain for fear of enlightening Robin to how he really did actually like-like Wally.

But Robin just glared at him, knowing full well that ghosts can't get cold. His blue eyes demanded a better, more truthful answer.

"Ugh, fine." Reggy decided to go against explaining, and instead got up and moved about two couch cushions away from Robin, and he sighed in relief. Robin took this now and adjusted his seating position to something much more comfortable. Which happened to be only a bit closer to Reggy, but farther away from Wally.

Wally looked over at his friend who had just scooted slightly away from him. Wally cocked an eyebrow, then decided to,  _subtly,_ scootch closer to Robin. Not so subtle though as the blonde archer saw Wally promptly moving closer to Robin after he had just moved away. She held back a snicker at the awkward scene, and her whole mind made the decision to look further into the speedster's very apparent crush on the Boy Wonder.  _Theory confirmed, although reluctantly,_  she thought.

Robin noticed Wally's subtle attempt too, and he fought back a blush, choosing not to look at Wally as he got even closer to him. Wally kept up the "subtle" scootching until his thigh was about a centimeter away from Robin's.

Robin bit his lip, wondering if Wally was doing this consciously or if this was all just circumstance. He was hoping though that Wally was getting closer to him for the reasons Reggy had been, no matter how unlikely.

Artemis giggled a little too loudly at the pair's awkwardness. Superboy looked over at her, and so did the rest after him. She flushed and composed herself again.

"What?" she asked snidely, hoping that they wouldn't ask why she giggled or that she could at least think of something good to tell them instead.

"What's funny?" Superboy asked, and Artemis racked her brain for an answer.

"The movie," she excused lamely. Superboy went with it, which was good, but the others did not.

"What  _about_ the movie?" Wally asked, again using this new situation to get himself firmly pressed against Robin, draping his arm around the currently oblivious boy. Artemis saw this, and her eyes widened. She then let loose a full laugh.

"You're about as subtle as a kick in the teeth," Artemis laughed out at the speedster, who then quickly removed his arm and scooted to a more comfortable, less  _suggestive_ position on the couch from his best friend.

Robin saw what Wally had just done in response to Artemis' comment, and he blushed wildly.

"What's going on?" Kaldur asked, hearing the archer's words and seeing the speedster's reaction.

"Nothing, I gotta go," Wally said quickly before using his super speed to book it from the living room area. The rest of the team besides Artemis and Robin looked at each other in confusion.

"I have to go too," Robin said, getting up more calmly than Wally but rushing off all the same to follow Wally to his room, Reggy close behind. Because of this, the rest looked to Artemis for answers. The archer just smiled deviously, and laughed lightly.

"I think it'd be better to go talk to a certain speedster before I release any information prematurely."

* * *

Wally skidded into his room, barely taking a moment to breathe.

The embarrassment of what had just happened was overwhelming at the moment. He'd gotten  _this_ close to really making a good move on Robin, well not a  _good_ move but a move, to break through the "friend wall" and not having to be all flashy about it either. No pun intended.

Wally sighed deeply, and collapsed onto his bed.  _I can't believe that actually just happened,_ he thought. He pressed his face into his pillow, very prepared to begin talking his frustrations and embarrassments into said pillow, but he was cut off by the sound of someone knocking at the door of his room.

"Wally?" Wally sat straight up at the sound of the Boy Wonder's voice and flushed in embarrassment, he really didn't want to have this conversation just yet. Especially with his failed attempt at making a move. The thought of rejection coming from his best friend pained him, he could feel this rise in his chest, but the thought of  _losing_ his best friend solely because he wouldn't talk to him pained him even more.

Wally sighed and got to his feet, pressing the button to the side of the door frame sending the metal slab sliding swiftly open revealing Robin standing in a frozen pose, him just about to begin knocking again on the door.

Robin lowered his hand, cleared his throat and said, "So, uh, care to tell me what that was all about?" Even though Robin knew exactly what that was all about he needed to hear it from Wally himself. If Wally couldn't fess up to his feelings then why bother in the first place.

"Uh, well, you see..." Wally stuttered, flushing and looking anywhere but Robin's sunglasses. "I uh..." Wally then decided enough was enough and he pulled the Boy Wonder into his room shutting the door behind him. He removed Robin's sunglasses for him and stared into the eyes of Richard Grayson instead.

Dick's eyes widened, something akin to being startled and relief filled his stomach.  _Maybe this means he'll actually talk to me for once. For real._

"So I uh, I- what happened back there was basically due to the account of me being a complete blundering idiot who can't make a subtle move on the guy he reallyreallylikesawholelot because he's an idiot and I know I said that already but he's like really really stupid I'm just really dumb and it's taken me so long to tell you that since I'm afraid of rejection but I'm afraid of losing you more and basically I mayormaynotreallyreallylikeyouinanonplatonicway if that's cool with you?" Wally summed up. Dick just stared at him for a moment before breaking into a laugh. Wally frowned slightly at first but then he realized how dumb that all probably sounded and he laughed too.

"Wow, and they call me the Boy Blunder," Dick laughed. Wally got a good laugh out of that too and he smiled with hesitance.

"So... does this mean you do actually like me like me or don't like me like me or just like me like a friend like me or would totally go out with me like me or would like to give it a try like me or just-" Dick cut him off by grabbing him for a hug. Wally eagerly hugged back and he heard Dick say,

"Yeah, I do like you like you and I'd totally like to go out on a date with you sometime." Wally visibly deflated in relief.

"Oh thank god that would've sucked if you didn't like me, oh my god," Wally said all in one exhausted and relieved breath. Dick smiled into his shoulder and felt that wonderful warmth rise in his chest again, he couldn't believe all of this was happening this fast after so long of subtle crushing and years of friendship. Dick pushed Wally away a bit by his shoulders, keeping him close and gripping him tight looking into his eyes. Dick smiled seeing Wally's flushed cheeks and bright green eyes.

"So, what are we gonna do for this date and when?" Dick said feeling his smile stretch wider. Wally blinked a couple times rapidly, trying to clear his head and think of what he should say, what they should do.

"Well... I was thinking maybe we could totally see the new Fast and Furious movie? I saw a couple of trailers for it and it looks wicked cool, totally up our alley if you know what I mean," he laughed. Dick laughed too and nodded.

"That would be great, I'm always up for seeing stuff blow up." Wally visibly glowed at that, "When would we see it?"

"Um, how about tomorrow? It's a Sunday so neither of us have school and besides what were we gonna be doing anyway," Wally laughed, and Dick nodded.

"So... Halo?" Wally asked looking towards the counsel in his room. Dick scoffed with a "duh" then told Wally that he should go tell the team that they were both okay while Wally setup Halo. Wally nodded but then looked up at him after he moved towards the counsel.

"Are you going to tell them that we're- you know," Wally asked, eyes shooting around the room hoping to find something to look at other than Dick.

"I'm not entirely sure yet, but if I did would you mind? Or...?" Dick questioned, he wouldn't care what Wally decided either way. He knew that they both knew that they would have to tell the team at some point. Dick thought, why not just tell them what had transpired now? It would only make the most sense and be the most efficient as well, so there would be no sense for useless lies and avoidance of something he knew the team wouldn't care about.

"I wouldn't mind, no. I would just have to deal with Artemis's teasing for a couple days," he laughed a bit through his nose. "So just do what you think is right in the moment, if you tell them you tell them and if you don't you don't. All I care about really is that you're happy with whatever you decide to do," Wally concluded, the wisdom he rarely showed slipping into his voice to be heard. Dick smiled lightly, the smile lines in his tanned face fading now being replaced with a relaxed expression of contentedness and plush happiness.

"Thanks Walls'," Dick replied, turning to move towards the doorway.

Dick slipped his sunglasses back on and moved swiftly out of the room and into the main hall where all the team were talking to each other about what just happened. He could see Artemis's smirk that only widened into a smile when she saw Robin approaching.

"Well look who it is, how's Kid Dork doing?" Artemis asked, both with a tone of smugness and slight concern that she may have pushed Kid over the edge of livable embarrassment. But then she saw the wide smile on the Boy Wonder's face and she stood up a little straighter hoping that that smile meant good news for the two best friends' relationship.

"He's fine, better than fine I think," Robin said, and Artemis felt a strange happiness rise in her chest for the two. While Kid may annoy the ever living crap out of her she held a fondness for Robin and she knew that Kid wasn't actually too bad once you got to know him. The friendships built with the team for her had finally settled in and she could feel them now with a strong presence. This team had been nothing but good to her and good for her, and seeing the warmth in the Boy Wonder's face and that warmth which she knew would also be on Wally's made her feel a great joy.

"I'm glad," she said with a smile that held no more smugness. M'gann, Superboy, and Kaldur looked slightly confused at the words passed between the two, but Kaldur had a look like he knew what had transpired between Wally and Robin though not exactly down to every detail.

M'gann piped up, "What's wrong with Wally exactly?" Robin and Artemis looked to her while Superboy and Kaldur kept their eyes on Robin with M'gann. Robin cleared his throat and looked to Artemis, she nodded her head a little bit conveying the message that telling the truth was probably the best option.

"Well," Robin began, "it seems that Wally and I, due to Artemis's interference towards Wally's really bad attempt at making a move on me," this got a reaction out of the rest of the team; Kaldur nodded and smiled seeing that his suspicions were correct, M'gann let out a small high pitched noise of happiness, and Superboy raised an eyebrow like he wasn't exactly sure what that meant, "so we are going to be going out on a date tomorrow to see the new Fast and Furious movie. So long story short we won't be able to hang with you guys tomorrow since we'll be out, and we were just going to play a round of Halo so you guys can do whatever." M'gann clapped her hands together and held them tightly for a moment, then flew over to Robin and hugged him with vigor.

"Oh this is great! I'm so happy for you two! I knew there was something going on between you guys!" she said gleefully into Robin's ear. Robin smiled and let loose a small cackle.

"Yeah I guess neither of us were being that subtle really," Robin said over M'gann's shoulder looking at the rest of the team. Kaldur continued to smile and nodded at him lightly, Superboy's eyes lit with understanding and he shrugged his shoulders a bit not really caring all that much given how he and M'gann were together. Artemis continued to smile and moved to stand closer to Kaldur.

M'gann released her hold on Robin and they both went back over to the team, M'gann slipping her hand into Superboy's weaving their fingers into one. Robin felt relief at these events and told them he was going to go back to Wally's room so they could play Halo. They told him that they planned on finishing Coraline then that they were going to go to their rooms as well given how late it was already. Robin could see  _10:52_ glow from his phone when he checked, so he knew that Wally and him should probably only play one or two rounds of Halo before going to bed.

This is because they would want to be refreshed for their movie date the next day, they would have to go early because they would want to be able to get their date in before any missions came up. Because then after any said missions they would all have to go home, all except Kaldur, M'gann, and Superboy of course. School's on Monday for the humans of the group, so they would all need their rest. Gotham Academy could be rigorous, and the teachers at Keystone High School could seemingly pull assignments for their students out of thin air.

Robin walked casually back to Wally's room, slipping his sunglasses off as he went. He found Wally ready and waiting for him with everything set up once he reached the room. Wally smiled up at him, patting the spot next to him on the floor. Dick sat down and smiled back.

"So," Wally began, "did you tell them?" he asked.

Dick nodded. "Yeah I did. They were all totally cool too, and I can't say that I regret my decision." Dick looked to Wally for a reaction, the one he got was a smile and bright eyes.

"Cool, yeah, that's good," Wally said nodding to himself, then turning his head back to the television screen starting the game. Dick smiled a bit hesitantly to himself, turning to face the screen as well.

 _That all went way smoother than I thought it would,_ Dick thought to himself.  _I just hope it will continue this way._

On the bed behind them, fading in and out under the flashing light of the tv screen, sat Reggy unknowingly to the two boys. He was frowning at the two, but he couldn't find any anger within himself towards either of the pair, especially towards the smaller boy. He knew that this was bound to happen sooner or later and he knew that when it did he would have to move on.

 _I guess it really is time to go,_  he thought to himself.

Looking over at the sudden flash of bright white light glowing in the corner of his eye, he smiled. The light was radiating warmth, acceptance, and happiness. Everything Dick said it would be. Reggy couldn't help but smile at the thought.

He moved off the bed towards the light, ready to be embraced by it warmth. He was there, he could feel it, he could touch it...

Then it was gone.

Reggy's face fell fast, he looked around in confusion first to Dick then back to the spot where the light was. But now there was something else in it's former place... something opaque and cold.

"...What?" was all that he could get past his lips before he was consumed by a darkness he never could've imagined.

Not even in his wildest nightmares could he have foreseen this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad some people are liking this story so far! Here's the fourth chapter of who knows how many, and enjoy. ;)

It had been an entire week since Wally and Dick had first admitted their feelings for each other and became a couple. It had also been an entire week since Dick had seen or heard any sign of Reggy.

Dick had thought at first that maybe because of Wally and his new relationship that Reggy was just avoiding him for a while, trying to perhaps set aside his feelings and accept what this all was. Dick could understand that so he wasn't worried. But after more than three days had gone by without any word from him Dick really started to get concerned.

Not only was Reggy gone making him anxious, but there also seemed to be more and more ghosts that he knew going missing. It was like they had all packed up and left. Dick knew that there was something going on, he just didn't know what.

None of it  _felt_ right either. There was something disturbing and unsettling about it all, and it was setting his teeth on edge. It was like something in the supernatural world had shifted, and not in a good way.

Wally was concerned too. But not for the same reasons as Dick. He was concerned about Dick. He could tell that something was wrong, that something was troubling him, but Dick wouldn't let anything up about it. Even the rest of the team were getting concerned about him. He seemed a little distant, constantly looking around for someone they couldn't see, making up excuses for his obvious anxiety and shiftiness. At first they all thought that it was just something involving Batman that was making him a bit off; a mission perhaps. But then they saw Wally talking to the bat off to the side of the mountain's main room. They knew that something was wrong.

"So what's going on, Baywatch?" Artemis asked Wally as he walked over to the group minus Robin. He had just finished his conversation with Batman and was now sporting a frown across his face.

Wally sighed. "I don't know, Batman just asked me if I knew what was going on with Robin. I told him that I didn't and that we were all concerned for him too," Wally explained. The team nodded together, now that even  _Batman_ was openly acknowledging that something was wrong there was no denying it.

"So what do we do about it?" M'gann asked, looking to Wally. Wally just shrugged a bit.

"Bats told me that we should keep an eye on him, and try to figure out what's wrong. There's nothing much to do you know," Wally stated.

"And besides," Artemis spoke, "we don't even know if it's something we need to be this worried about anyway. It could be something that Robin just needs to work out for himself, and we're just blowing it out of proportion. Or it could really just be nothing at all." Except they knew that the latter statement wasn't true. But she made a good point, they really didn't know how big of a deal this was and they could just be blowing this all up too much.

"Artemis is right," Kaldur addressed the team. "If something really is wrong, Robin will either tell us himself or we'll figure it out. So for now we do as Batman ordered and keep an eye on him. Is that clear?" The team all said things in the affirmative, and Kaldur dismissed them. But Wally turned their attention back to him with one more piece of information.

"Guys," Wally began, "Batman also said to make sure that whatever this is doesn't affect Robin during battle. That's why he brought it up to me in the first place actually."

"What happened?" Superboy questioned.

"Bats said that on their last mission two nights ago Robin almost made a fatal mistake while fighting Bane and his cronies." They all reacted to this accordingly. "He said it was what really tipped him off that something was going on, since Robin doesn't make mistakes like that. At least, not how he did during that particular fight." Something shifted within the group because of this, but they all just nodded grimly and went back to the living room area. Wally stayed behind momentarily and looked back at Batman where he was talking with Flash and Superman.

"Zatara has just informed me of a concern of his," Batman explained to the other league members.

"A concern?" Superman raised an eyebrow, not entirely understanding the meaning behind this.

"Yes, a concern," Batman repeated to him as if he just asked the stupidest question ever. Flash stifled a laugh and Superman just rolled his eyes.

"What  _kind_ of a concern?" Superman rephrased.

"A 'magical' or supernatural concern," Batman started his explanation. Flash coughed a bit, and Superman just nodded. "He says that he felt a change occur in the supernatural world through his magic. He explained to me that this is not a good change, and that he will be keeping an eye on things surrounding this matter."

"When he says a  _change_ what exactly does he mean by that?" Flash asked skeptically.

Batman cleared his throat. "Zatara described it as a shift of sorts in the dark direction, and that we should keep an eye out for dark magic users like Wotan and Abra Kadabra." Superman and Flash both nodded and went their separate ways. Batman sighed through his nose and looked to see Wally looking at him. He nodded at the boy and went to the zeta tube to head back to Gotham.

" _Recognized, Batman 02."_ And in a flash of blinding white light he was gone.

Wally blinked himself out of his thoughts and turned to head to the living room with the others. He was greeted with the sight of the team chatting with each other and Robin. As he approached, Artemis made room on the couch for him to sit next to Robin. Because of this action, Robin noticed his new boyfriend's presence and he smiled brightly up at him. Wally smiled back.

"So what's going on?" Wally asked as he plopped down next to Robin, immediately laying his arm over the younger boy's shoulders.

"Just deliberating as to whether we should all go out to eat after training," Robin explained cheerily, completely oblivious as to what had just transpired in the main room not minutes ago. Wally hummed at the thought of food and the rest smiled, glad that the other topic was off the table.

"What do you think we should do Wally?" M'gann asked. Wally opened his mouth to answer but stopped when he felt Robin's shoulders tense up suddenly. He turned to him and saw that he was staring wide eyed straight ahead. The rest of the team noticed too, and they looked at each other with concern.

"Rob? Babe?" Wally called to him slowly, shifting his position to get a better look at his boyfriend. But Robin didn't move. His eyes were staring blankly ahead as far as they could all tell behind the sunglasses. He was breathing slowly and shallowly, his heart rate was slowing as well and that's what made Wally act.

Wally began shaking Robin's shoulders back and forth to try and get his attention, but he didn't react. M'gann floated down in front of the bird, her eyes glowed as she reached out and touched the side of his face. Wally moved slightly back to give M'gann space while she was trying to see if she could figure out what was happening. Her muscles tensed to match Robin's for a moment before she was pushed back from him. She slowly dropped her hand from his face when Robin blinked once, twice, and finally rapidly another couple of times back into awareness.

Robin's body and demeanor relaxed, and he looked around at his concerned teammates' faces.

"What?" he asked genuinely confused. The group all stared at him, then their eyes shifted to M'gann for her input.

"I'm not sure?" she said in response to their stares and Robin's questioned. Robin furrowed his eyebrows and so did Wally.

"Did you not get anything?" Wally asked M'gann, she just shook her head and stuck out her lower lip slightly. Robin's brow furrowed further.

"What?" he asked again, completely confused in every way possible.

"You just froze up all of the sudden," Artemis explained to him, and the group's attention shifted to her. "Wally tried to get your attention, but you didn't react. He was even shaking your shoulders but you didn't move. So M'gann tried to look into your head..." she trailed off. Robin pierced his lips for a moment before his head tilted back and eyes lit up with understanding, his body relaxed again before tensing up once more.

"Oh," he let pass his lips before he shook his head and moved to stand up. Wally's hand grasped Robin's bicep and he stood with him.

"Robin?" Wally asked softly, holding his boyfriend in place where he stood so he couldn't walk away. Everyone else stood as well.

"I'm fine," Robin assure the team, softly at first before he repeated himself louder and with more confidence. "I'm fine, really. It's okay. I don't know what got into me there," he laughed it off. None of them were convinced however, and Artemis couldn't help but look at him like he was the stupidest person in the entire world.

"Robin, we knew before this that something was going on with you but we did not want to address it with you directly. But now I feel as though it would be inappropriate to allow you to brush this off arbitrarily," Kaldur stated. Robin just sighed.

"I know you guys are worried about me and I know Batman is too, especially since what happened with Bane..." he trailed off. "But I'm fine! Really! I know that what happened right now may have seemed weird but I just zoned out, that's all. It's okay, you guys don't have to baby me you know," Robin said to the team, then he turned to Wally. "I'm okay, Wally. I would tell you if I wasn't."

"Fine. Well if that's true, then tell me what the heck is going on," Wally threw back at Robin. Even if Robin was "okay" and "fine" as he put it, there was still something majorly wrong and even if they couldn't help him with it he knew that they would  _all_ feel much better know what it was.

"Yeah, Robin," Superboy piped up. "I know that something's bothering you despite the obvious and despite what you say, your whole body's showing signs of anxiety and discomfort," Superboy pointed out.

"Conner's right," M'gann said, "I've been feeling these emotions as well, you've been radiating these feelings for all this past week," M'gann confirmed. "And with what happened just now..."

"What  _did_ happen just now?" Artemis questioned both M'gann and Robin.

Robin sighed in exasperation. " _Nothing_ happened just now. I told you, I just epically zoned out for a moment there. It happens to plenty of people." Artemis mumbled 'what people' under her breath but Robin ignored her. "And as for what's wrong? Well..."  _I've been seeing ghosts since I was eight and there's this one ghost Reggy, a dead kid from my school who was in love with me, that has been following me everywhere in his afterlife but last week he suddenly disappear just after Wally and I became a couple and now other ghosts are disappearing for no apparent reason too, and while at first I thought this might be a good thing, you know ghosts moving on and all, I've now realized that there is something very very wrong happening and I don't know what. Also that thing that happened just now? To be honest, I have no idea what that was! It just felt like a cold darkness came over me and I couldn't move... I've never been that cold in my life, not even when we were in the arctic. And it wasn't just cold, it was... empty._

"I've just been stressed out about telling my...  _parents_ about Wally and me," Robin roughly explained, nearly tripping over the word 'parents' since the team minus Wally didn't know of his secret ID. "And I'm worried what they might do to me, or what my  _dad_  might do to Wally since he's so protective." Wally let out a small 'ah' in his understanding, though he didn't completely buy this story it seemed plausible enough given him knowing Bruce. "Also one; my parents don't know I'm gay, and two; they're both not exactly super into the idea of me dating someone let alone a  _boy._ " Robin furthered his story, and while all of this was true it wasn't the  _whole_ truth in more ways than one.

Because first; he didn't have  _parents_  any longer, just Bruce and Alfred, and second; while he  _was_ worried about telling Bruce and everything the main source of his anxiety had to be kept hidden.

"It's going to be fine babe," Wally said smiling a bit, more relaxed now though not completely. "We can even tell them  _together_  if you want?" he suggested. Robin smiled back at him.

"That would be... nice. Also probably a good idea since Bru-uh, my uh, my  _dad_ , will want to know what your intentions are," Robin replied. The team seemed more at ease now with this new explanation and they were all very eager to take this excuse and run with it in the hopes that everything will blow over, and that Robin will go back to normal soon.

"This explanation sound viable enough for now, Robin," Kaldur spoke. "But we all shall still be keeping an eye on you. And in the event that even after you and Wally reveal yourselves and your relationship to your parents you still are anxiety ridden and more of these..  _things_ continue to happen I will not hesitate to, as leader, not only inform Batman but to have you sit out of missions until further notice." Robin had to swallow a retort because he knew that Kaldur was only being a good leader, and that he was completely right. Should his behaviour put the team at risk in the field Kaldur as leader would be responsible, and he couldn't let that happen.

"I understand," Robin stated. Kaldur nodded once, then turned to the rest of the team for their confirmations. They all nodded or gave a small 'yeah' before Kaldur told the team that Black Canary would want them for training in about fifteen minutes and that they all should begin getting prepared. M'gann grasped Superboy's hand pulling him away from the team and towards the hall where their rooms were so they could get changed. But just as they began to move M'gann turned back at to look at Robin, her eyes filled with concern. Robin gave her a small smile in the hopes that that would be enough to ease her worry. While it did help a little, the concern did not leave her eyes as she turned away from him.

"So," Wally said to get Robin's attention, "when exactly do you want to be telling your  _parents_ about us?" Robin shrugged and looked up at him.

"I'm not sure. I guess maybe we could tell them after training? Today? Since I know that they'll be home tonight and we might as well not wait, so..." Wally nodded and smiled.

"Alrighty then, tonight it is." He smiled then pecked his boyfriend on the cheek, since they'd only been dating a week and they were taking the whole transition slowly. Robin faintly blushed and slipped his hand into Wally's as they walked to the changing rooms to get ready for training.  _I just hope that whatever just happened in the living room won't happen during training,_ Robin thought to himself. And honestly, he really  _could_ only hope.

* * *

Apparently hopping is a really helpful thing, because training went fine. Robin had to actually hide his surprise after they got through it perfectly. But now he had to really worry about that other thing Wally and him were about to do...

"C'mon, Dick, it'll be fine," Wally assured him as they both walked up the steps to the manor. Dick wasn't as sure as his boyfriend was however. But they were going to do this, no matter what.

"Yeah, sure sure," Dick mumbled while silently trying to list off all the reasons that this was a good idea; but he was coming up empty. Wally gave him a wide smile as they walked in.

"Alfred, I'm home!" Dick yelled out into the main foyer. The pair continued to walk side by side until they reached the main living area where they saw Alfred tidying up.

"Ah, Master Richard," Alfred spoke once he noticed them and looked up. Then he noticed Wally and smiled. "I was not aware that you were bringing Master Wallace over this afternoon?"

"Yeah, well,  _Master_   _Wallace_  and I were just gonna hang out," Dick laughed out, stressing 'Master Wallace' in a mocking tone. "I also gotta talk to Bruce about something later too, so..." he trailed off.

"I see," Alfred nodded.

"Uh, Alfred?" Wally spoke up. "You  _really_ don't have to call me 'Master Wallace' you know. Wally's fine. We've been through this before," Wally stammered, laughing lightly at the end. He really hated being called  _Wallace_  in general, let alone  _Master Wallace._

"Yes, I suppose not," Alfred said with a small frown, but mischief and amusement gleaming in his eyes. He turned to Dick, "I'll inform Master Bruce that you and  _Master Wallace_  are here," he said then turned and walked off. Dick had to throw his hand over his mouth in order to contain his laughter until Alfred had left the room.

"Oh, my god," Dick cackled.

"Yeah, yeah, ha ha, laugh it up!" Wally exclaimed, before bursting into laughter himself.

"Gotta love Alfred," Dick commented before sitting down on the couch in front of him. Wally hummed in agreement and sat next to his boyfriend.

"Yeah, especially when he's  _not_ calling me Wallace," Wally smiled and Dick couldn't help but chuckle again softly. Wally's eyes flashed over him as he felt affection rise in his chest, he had to hold back from kissing the smaller boy right there and then while he took in the sight of Dick's bright smile. Wally was glad to see him smile for real again, he hadn't all week.

"Dick?" The boys turned to the direction in which a voice called out. They watched as Bruce walked into the room so they both stood up off the couch. "Ah, here you are. Alfred told me that you had brought Wally over. You wanted to talk to me about something?" Bruce asked. Dick cleared his throat and nodded.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, we do," Dick stuttered out. Bruce nodded and motioned for them both to have a seat on the couch where they previously were as he sat down in the armchair across from them.

"Okay, go ahead," Bruce prompted his ward to continue. Dick nodded again while he tried to clear his head and get his thoughts sorted. Whenever Dick was put into an uncomfortable situation like this one, all his thoughts would get jumbled up into a mass of confusion. Dick made silent work of getting everything in order all while he wondered where he should begin.

"Um, okay so, essentially what I wanted to talk to you about is... well, basically uh-" Dick stumbled over each and every word before Wally cut him off.

"We're dating," he simply stated. It took about two seconds for Bruce to fully comprehend what Wally had just said, but once he did he raised both eyebrows and his eyes widened mildly.

"I see," Bruce said while slowly and barely nodding his head. Dick's mouth was left somewhat agape as he looked from Wally to Bruce, trying to figure out both what made Wally blurt it out like that and what Bruce's thoughts were about it all.

"Yep," Wally confirmed with a smile. He then draped his arm over Dick's shoulders and leaned back into the couch.

"Dick?" Bruce requested his input on the subject.

"Yeah, Bruce... Wally's telling the truth," Dick settled. "I wanted to tell you earlier but we only got together a week ago, so..."

"Okay," Bruce began, "so, are you gay?" he asked. Dick nodded.

"Yes, yeah I am. I also wanted to tell you that earlier but, you know."

"How long have you known?" Bruce questioned, and Dick's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't expected this kind of automatic acceptance from Bruce. He also hadn't expected him to ask normal and curious questions about the subject, but he guessed that now was as optimal a time as any.

"Since I was twelve," Dick told him, and Bruce nodded.

"I'm bisexual by the way," Wally piped up to get into the loop, he said this with a grin.

"Alright," Bruce responded to them both. He looked to Wally then, deciding to begin his interrogation of the boy. "And since you, Wally, seem so eager to get into this conversation, I have some questions for you as well." Wally swallowed nervously and nodded.

"Sounds awesome," the speedster voiced.

"Good," Bruce began, "because I must ask, what are your intentions with my ward?" Wally furrowed his eyebrows, and frowned a bit in consideration as to how he should respond.

"Well, I guess my intentions are to...  _date_  him?" Wally said slowly, turning to Dick for assistance. Dick just smirked and gave him a shrug. He was  _so_ enjoying this.

"And?" Bruce prompted him. Wally looked around the room in an attempt to figure out what Bruce wanted to hear.

"And um, my intention is to never ever hurt him ever at all in anyway shape or form and to always make him happy and to never ever push him into doing stuff he doesn't want to do and to always be a gentleman at all times and to not take any of this too fast and to have my top priority be to keep him safe?" Wally rambled out at near super speed. But luckily for him Bruce was used to having to keep up with this kind of fast speech when he was working with Barry so he understood every word.

"Good," Bruce blankly expressed. Wally felt a rush of relief and the tension drained from his muscles. Bruce internally smiled at the speedster's reaction, but he only allowed a faint smirk to appear on his lips. Dick, unlike Wally, could tell exactly what this minute expression meant. So he smiled too.

"So... are we okay?" Dick hesitantly asked after a bout of silence went by. Bruce's attention turned to him.

"Of course, Dick," Bruce told him. Dick smiled wider at that and held eye contact with Bruce. "It doesn't matter to me what your sexuality is, all I care about is whether you're happy. And believe it or not, for some reason, I trust Wally to treat you well. So... you two have my blessing," Bruce finished his thought. Both Dick and Wally felt a rush of joy overflow them.

"Seriously?" the boys exclaimed at the same time. They then looked at each other and laughed.

"Yes,  _seriously_ ," Bruce joked. "Just promise me one thing," he added and the couple shifted their focus back to Bruce, "promise me that you'll both be smart about this and not jump into anything prematurely."

"Yeah, yeah, of course!" Dick assured his foster father ecstatically. Wally nodded vigorously in agreement, and Bruce sighed with something of his own relief.

"Good. Now, was this matter what's been making you act... strangely this past week?" Bruce directed this question to Dick, and Dick's expression immediately dropped. Before either Wally or Bruce could point out this change, Dick picked his smile back up off the floor and nodded.

"Yeah. I've been stressing about telling you I'm gay for a while, and then when Wally and I got together last week it just added to the load. So, yeah, this is what's been bothering me," Dick roughly explained. Bruce nodded and even though he wasn't completely sold on this explanation (neither was Wally, still), he accepted it.

"Okay," Bruce said as he stood up, "I'll leave you two to do whatever it is that you do, have fun. But not too much fun." Dick laughed and nodded with Wally. Bruce turned and left the room.

"Wow," Wally began, "That was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be."

Dick cast a confused glance over at his boyfriend. "Wait, but you're the one that's been assuring me that this would be easy in the first place," Dick mentioned and Wally laughed.

"Well yeah, I said that because I knew it'd be okay for  _you._ Bruce loves you like a son and the fact that you're gay wasn't going to change that. But  _me_ on the other hand, what he was gonna do about me dating you, well, that's another story," Wally concluded. Dick cackled, sucked in a deep breath, then grabbed Wally's hand pulling him up off the couch.

"Makes sense," Dick said as he pulled Wally towards the stairs up to his room where he planned on making Wally attempt to beat him at any of the video games he owned (which he wouldn't, by the way).

 _Now, that's that out of the way,_  Dick thought to himself,  _but what am I going to say the next time something happens and I can't simply blame it on being stressed about telling Bruce?_ Again with the hoping, Dick nearly prayed for this to all just fix itself. Though he knew that it wouldn't.

* * *

 **The Watchtower, Position 34695 in Earth's Orbit**.

 **6:27 pm EST**.

" _So_ , care to explain to me in more depth exactly what you're so  _concerned_ about?" Superman casually asked Zatara as they walked through the halls of the Watchtower, heading towards the main room.

Zatara stifled a sigh at Superman's tone, and he spoke, "Trying to explain the magical and supernatural workings of Earth to a Kryptonian who has no base understandings of such things isn't exactly an appealing idea. Hell, even the prospect of explaining these things to someone who  _does_ have a basic understanding of magic and the supernatural world doesn't sound pleasurable."

Superman laughed kindheartedly. "Humor me, then."

This time Zatara didn't bother snuffing out his sigh. "Okay, first things first, in order for me to explain this  _particular_ issue you must reconcile the existence of spirits and the energies left over by the dead," Zatara began. Superman gave him a wild eyed look.

"Wait, you mean like  _ghosts_?" Superman questioned with a baffled tone. Zatara rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Yes,  _ghosts,_ " he continued. "I know that for many people the idea that people 'come back' as spirits after they die is far fetched, but for people who practice magic and mediums-" Superman cut Zatara off mid sentence.

"Woah woah wait,  _mediums_?" Zatara gave Superman possibly the most whipped look ever expressed in the history of mankind.

"Yes,  _mediums._ " Zatara had to resistance making a noise of complete agitation as he continued. "As in living people who can see dead people; their spirits I mean," Zatara explained.

"You mean like  _Ghost Whisperer_?" Superman asked, and the fact that he even knew what that show was made Zatara want to hit him even more than he did before.

"Yes, like  _Ghost Whisperer._ Jennifer Love Hewitt, 'I see dead people', the whole shebang," Zatara furthered.

"Wait, but isn't the line 'I see dead people' from the movie  _The Sixth Sense_?" Superman pointed out, and this time Zatara did let out an exasperated noise.

" _Yes,_  but that doesn't matter," Zatara spat back. Superman raised his arms in mock surrender and Zatara sighed even more deeply than he had before. "Okay, so,  _anyway,_  now that you understand that there are in fact spirits of the dead and people who can see and hear them, I can explain my  _concern._

"About a week ago I was helping Zatanna with some more intermediate spells in our home. All of the sudden during our session I was overwhelmed with a feeling of cold and emptiness, Zatanna felt it too. It affected us both so greatly that our magic ceased to be accessible for a few minutes after the fact. This feeling was like none I've ever experienced before, I've not even ever felt it when I've been hit by some very dark magic cast by some very dark people.

"Do you remember when the group of sorcerers lead by the Lord of Chaos Klarion split our world into two separate dimensions? One for adults of the ages eighteen and over, and one for the children?" Superman nodded.

"Yeah, I remember."

"Not even then when they were all working together did I feel a force as strong as this one," Zatara told him. Superman felt himself tense up at this revelation. An entire group of sorcerers plus a Lord of Chaos didn't even create a force as powerful as the one Zatara felt? Now that's definitely something to be concerned about.

"What does this mean?" Superman asked, but Zatara merely shook his head.

"As of yet, I cannot be sure of. But I do know one thing, whatever this is it is not something we should take lightly." Superman let out an anxious sigh, then furrowed his brow.

"So, what does this have to do with ghosts?" he asked. Zatara's expression changed, as he had forgotten to mention.

"Ah, right. What this has to do with that is that ever since I first felt this disturbance a week ago, many of my medium contacts have been informing me of the disappearances of spirits in rising quantities," Zatara summarized.

"But aren't ghosts  _supposed_ to do that? Like, go into the light?" Superman asked.

Zatara shook his head. "Not like this they aren't. Also one of my more trusted friends who is a medium informed me that she believes that the spirits that are disappearing are both not simply moving to different parts of the world, or going into the light. But that they are being taken by something much darker than she can comprehend," Zatara concluded. Superman turned away and began to walk towards the main Watchtower computers.

"What do we do?" he questioned. Zatara sighed and walked up next to the Kryptonian.

"Honestly?" Zatara asked. Superman nodded. "I... have no idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love cliff hangers for chapters tbh. Just warning you now


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy crap this chapter is long. 
> 
> thank you guys for reading this so far! I hope that you enjoy this chapter. ;)

Lying next to Wally on a floor of pillows and blankets was by far Dick's favorite thing as of forever.

"Do you think that we should go to sleep soon?" Wally asked him. Dick just turned his head a bit to make eye contact with his boyfriend and he smiled.

"Nah, it's only like..." he trailed off. Wally propped himself up on his elbows in order to get a look at the digital alarm clock on Dick's bedside table.

"Three thirty seven. In the morning," Wally told him with raised eyebrows.

Dick let out laughter that was filled with a giddiness one could only have when they were extremely tired. "Asterous."

Wally collapsed into giggles. "Well I'm going to sleep," he said to the boy beside him. Dick just groaned.

Dick smiled lazily. "That's 'cause you're not as cool as me." Wally just shook his head with fondness at that.

"While that may be true-" Dick let out a small 'hell yeah it is' when Wally said this, "I still think that we should go to bed soon. Since even though we don't necessarily have to do anything tomorrow, who knows whether bats will drop a random mission on us. Or whether something will come up in Gotham and you'll have to Robin with him, or if something happens in Central City and I have to help Barry?" Wally pointed out. Dick hummed before sluggishly sitting up and turning to him.

Because of everything that had happened the night before- Dick coming out to Bruce, telling him that he and Wally were dating, Bruce giving them his blessing- Dick was feeling like he was on top of the world. Even though it was only one of many problems solved and confessions made, it was still awesome.

"I'll go to sleep," Dick told Wally.

Wally nodded. "Good, so where-"

"Only if you tell me something," Dick cut him off. Wally rolled his eyes at the younger boy's antics and he laughed.

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

Dick bit his lower lip in hesitation and he shifted his position slightly. "When did you first know that you liked me?" he asked. Wally's eyes widened at the question, but then he smiled.

"Well I think that I've always liked you, Dick," Wally began, and Dick blushed a bit, "But as for the first time I identified what I was feeling? I'd say around the time that I was fourteen and you were twelve I think. I was just starting to come to terms with the fact that I liked boys as well as girls, you came over to my house to hang out. We were eating Ben and Jerry's and talking about school and superheroing and just stuff about each other in general, remember?"

Dick nodded. "Yeah, I remember," he smiled. They had just gone on a duo mission with Batman and Flash the day before to fight both Mr. Freeze and Captain Cold who had teamed up together. Wally and Dick decided to have a sleepover after that because Batman and Flash both said that after the mission they could both 'use a break'.

So obviously they'd found themselves on the floor of Wally's room scooping black raspberry and peanut butter ice cream out of separate colorful pint containers with spoons that were given to Wally's parents by some distant (and now dead) relative.

"We were talking about people at school at one point," Wally stated, "and you were telling me about some girl named Karen..."

_Wally was just finishing licking the sides of his Peanut Butter Cup ice cream container when Dick spoke._

" _Hey, so you remember that girl Karen I was telling you about last week?" he asked._

_Wally nodded. "Mhmm. She's the blonde one with the red streaks in her hair, right?"_

" _Yep, that's her," Dick told him. "Well she came up to me after school today and asked me if I wanted to hang out sometime, like a date kind of hang out."_

_Wally's eyebrows shot to his hairline and he swallowed heavily. "Oh, yeah?" he started off hesitantly. "Good for you bro! Go get 'em." Wally smiled as brightly as he could get himself to for his friend, since this was a good thing. Or at least, that's what he was trying to tell himself._

" _Yeah," Dick laughed slightly. "The only problem is I'm not sure that I really like her like that." Wally found himself letting out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding when relief flooded over his body. He didn't know why the fact that his friend didn't actually like this girl was a relief._

" _Oh, well..." Wally didn't know what to say to him._

" _What do you think I should do?" Dick asked him with pure anxiety. Anxiety caused by concern for a girl that he didn't even know too well. Wally felt a warmth that he didn't really understand fill up his chest._

" _I guess just try and figure out a way to one, let her down easy, and two, still be her friend," Wally suggested. Dick nodded slowly in consideration before brightening._

" _That sounds like a good idea, thanks Walls," Dick said with a smile just before taking a spoon full of black raspberry iced cream and shoving it into his mouth. Wally smiled back, but with something akin to consideration. It was then that he had to turn away from his friend's smile._

_Later that night while Wally lay awake, there was only one thought running through his head._

"I was finally thinking, 'Is that what this is? Do I like him like that?'" Wally explained. "After that I kept thinking on it more and more, until eventually it just became a part of me. A fact that I couldn't deny or avoid."

Dick was smiling so much that his cheeks hurt. "That's really sweet, Wally," he said. Wally just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well you know me," Wally laughed, not being able to contain his smile either. "So... when did you first know?" he asked.

Dick frowned a little bit suddenly being jolted into thought. "This definitely won't be as much of a story as yours, but I think that the first time I really  _knew_ knew was on my eleventh birthday when you and Barry came to the manor and you gave me that model circus that caught my eye in Central a month earlier," Dick told him. Wally nodded and let out a breathy laugh at his words, remembering seeing just how ecstatic Dick was when he unwrapped that particular gift.

It's base was about the size of a dinner plate. It had a red and gold lined tent in the center, a small gaming area and concession stand, a place where the animals were that prominently featured two elephants in the center, and it even had a gate at the head of the model that said "Welcome!" on a sign at the top. It was entirely hand painted and it looked like it came right out of the nineteenth century. The color palette was one of carmine red, shiny gold, royal purple, and royal blue. It would even play music if you took the small key that came with it, slide it into the entrance on the side of the base, and wound it up. Even now Dick and Wally had yet to identify exactly what piece of music it played, but they knew that it was beautiful.

"I couldn't believe that you had remembered. That thought just triggered something in my head that said 'wow, and I didn't think it was possible for me to like Wally any more than I did'. Then it all just tumbled into place like 'wait'." Wally broke down into a fit of laughter at that, and Dick followed with him.

After the laughter died down they found themselves nose to nose with each other, cheeks flushed and eyes tired. Wally could feel his boyfriend's small breaths brush against his skin and he couldn't take it anymore.

Leaning forward he pressed his lips to Dick's, and Dick responded in kind.

Kissing wasn't exactly something that Dick had a lot of experience in but Wally lead him along. Eventually they were both comfortably in each other's arms, experiencing the moment in bliss and warmth. 

They both felt themselves fall into an unwavering sleep that could only be broken by hours of daylight. So the next day when they woke up in each other's arms, Wally's digital clock brightly reading that it was far past noon time, all they could do was laugh.

* * *

Robin could feel his legs moving, his feet hitting the ground with a force. His chest was heaving in and out. Expanding and contracting. He could see his breath a foot in front of his face, fogging up the air. Everything in his peripheral vision was a blur of trees and darkness all smudged together.

He didn't know why he was running or where he was running to, but he knew that if he stopped running something very bad would happen.

He was dressed in his Robin suit; but he didn't have his belt, his mask, his gloves, or his shoes. His feet were a mix of red and blue because of the cold, and so were his hands.

"Robin!" he heard someone shout in the distance behind him.

"Robin!"

There it was again. Closer this time.

"ROBIN!"

He flinched at the volume. Right next to his ear is what it sounded like. But it couldn't have been, he would have known if it were. Surely if there were someone yelling into his ear he would know it.

" _Robin._ "

Soft this time. Almost delicate. Again, right next to his ear. He could feel their breath, cold as winter wind.

He slowed down. He had to slow down. There was no way around it.

Robin's legs and feet went from running to walking. The trees turned from smudges into shapes. The steam of his breath billowed around his mouth while he took in his surroundings.

_Trees, maple and oak. Darkness. Fog. Silence._

"Hello?" he shouted into the distance, his voice echoing briefly into the black. His muscles tensed as a chill ran up his entire body. Goosebumps freckled his arms and legs, and stars began spotting his vision.

He turned abruptly at the sound of movement behind him, the crunch of leaves and the huff of breath. But there was no one that he could see. No one standing in the dark.

"KF? Batman? Anyone?" he called out, hoping, nearly praying, that someone would respond to his voice. It seemed improbable however. All he could think was that even if there  _was_ someone out there, that they would get swallowed up by the darkness.

Suddenly his own breathing became much louder in his ears as he realized he was running once more. Running to where, though?

Before he could get much deeper into these unfamiliar woods, he felt his bare foot painfully catch something on his trail. Soon after he found himself face down on the forest floor, inhaling in the dirt.

He flopped over onto his back then pushed himself up at an angle on his elbows.

"Robin."

He knew the voice this time. It was no longer just some distant echo of a being, but something- no, some _one_  -that he actually did recognize. Why they were only calling him 'Robin', he did not know.

This time he asked, "Reggy?" into the dark.

There was a pregnant pause.

For a moment he swore there was perfect silence, not even his own heartbeat could break it.

Then it was shattered. "Dick?" Reggy said hesitantly, almost fearful. Robin smiled in something that resembled relief but was not its twin.

"Yeah, it's me. Are you alright?" Robin asked, voice filled with concern. He could feel Reggy's consideration, even though all he could see was his figure in the blackness in front of him.

"I'm not too sure," Reggy told him. "Something's happened."

Robin's eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion, but also in thought. "You're right. Something  _has_ happened. I don't know what, though. Do you?"

Reggy's figure shook its head. Slowly, carefully he said, "It was dark, and cold. It flooded over me and suffocated me. It was like being buried alive in something you can't see or touch." Robin bit his bottom lip in contemplation of the new information. He somehow  _remembered_  the feeling that Reggy was describing, but he didn't know how or from where.

"Do you have any idea what 'it' was?" Robin asked. Reggy's form shifted uncomfortably at first, then stilled.

"I remember being about to go into the light, like you told me to do, but before I could it disappeared and was replaced by the darkness," Reggy explained. Robin's eyes widened in fear and uneasiness. The corners of his mouth being dragged into a frown, while something cold and solid took root in the pit of his stomach. He could taste metal shoot up the sides of his tongue.

"Before it took me in," Reggy continued, "I remember that it-"

Then he was gone. Ripped away from the flesh of the world like a bloody scab.

Robin only had about a second to take in the events before him before he was being cruelly ripped from the world as well.

He woke up screaming.

* * *

It was an early morning for that of Bruce Wayne.  _5:25_  bright and glowing on his digital watch.

With everything that was going on in the world, his world included, it seemed reasonable enough.

It had been four days since Dick had come out to him about his sexuality and his relationship with Wally. He was glad that Dick finally told him, and that he didn't have to drop hints that he knew all along.

Because of course he knew. He  _was_  Batman, after all. World's Greatest Detective. And he didn't get that title just for show.

So of course he would see that his ward did not show interest in girls as much as other boys his age would. As well as the fact that he, very obviously, had taken a more than friendly liking to the young speedster. Bruce didn't have a problem with it then and he didn't have a problem with it now.

Which is also probably why he didn't have a problem letting Dick stay over at the speedster's house the day after they came out. Like he said when they told him, for some strange reason he _trusted_ Wally. He could only assume that it was because the boy looked at Dick  like he had hung the moon and stars.

When Dick had come home after that sleepover, he was practically beaming with joy. Bruce asked if he had fun, but he hoped that they took his warning seriously and didn't have _too_ much fun. But again, he trusted Dick to make the right decisions.

Although that was one problem in his world that he didn't have to worry about, there was still the matter of what Zatara had explained to him as well as a few other trusted League members. The matter of his  _concern._

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkguy and Hawkwoman, Black Canary, Flash, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman were all in the meeting hall sitting around the table, while Zatara stood at the front of the room. He told them that he already explained the matter to Superman (though he was present for this second spiel) given him being the top member of the League, which they all understood. He went on to summarizing the matter at hand, as well as giving them a thorough explanation of spirits and the spirit world along with those who can perceive them.

"I know that for some people the reality of the 'spirit world', as well as 'ghosts' of the dead on Earth, may contradict some of what they believe. While what they believe still may not be wrong, it merely may have to fit around this truth of our particular universe," Zatara explained. The members present nodded their heads in understanding, prompting Zatara to continue.

"Now, I've explained to Superman a little bit about mediums and magic users when it comes to spirits, but I've not given all the information needed," Zatara continued. "While I am not an expert on what goes on in the spirit world, I do know about the different types of mediums. As well as how the way mediums perceive spirits is different than the way that any typical magic user does. Allow me to explain.

"While there are many types of mediums some are more common than others. The most common type of medium is the one that you see on reality television: a Sensible. This type of medium can feel a ghost's presence, figure out what they're feeling, and sometimes even learn information about a ghost just from the energy forces they can tap into. This is not unlike the way that magic users understand ghosts. The difference being that mediums are more finely tuned in their craft, as well as the fact that mediums typically cannot use magic. Though it is not unheard of for a medium to also be able to use magic along with their other abilities.

"The second most common type of medium is called a Listener. These mediums can hear ghosts as well as sense their presence and emotion. Sometimes these types of mediums will even be able to hear the voices of the spirits attached to objects. Along with being able to listen to the past be replayed with certain types of spirits."

"So there are different types of ' _spirits_ ' as well?" Green Arrow asked, interrupting Zatara.

Zatara just nodded. "Yes, and I will explain that in more depth later."

"Anyway, as I was saying," he started up again, "Next we have the third most common type of medium. This is the type that both sees and hears ghosts, along with feeling their energy. These mediums are called either Seers or just plain Mediums. This is because it became a common misconception that all mediums could both see  _and_ hear ghosts, even though this was not true, and this type is only the  _third_ most common. Also a reason people tend to shy away from the term 'Seer' when describing these mediums is because there is another type of medium who can  _only_  see ghosts, and not hear them.

"Anyway, after these three most common types the percentages of what is the next most common become so close that they are not even ranked," Zatara finished. There was a lot of head nodding and consideration of the information given to them going around the room. The Flash seemed most skeptical but since he trusted Zatara he would take his word for it.

"Even though they're not ranked, what  _are_ the other types of mediums?" asked Black Canary.

Zatara took a moment to think, then said, "Really the other types are anything you can think of involving the senses. I already told you about the mediums who can only see ghosts, so what others might there be?"

"Mediums who can only, what,  _smell_ ghosts?" Flash commented jokingly. There was a slight wave of laughter that went through the group before Zatara responded.

"Yes, actually."

To say that they were all a bit stunned at this was an understatement.

"Wait, what do  _ghosts_  even  _smell_  like?" Green Arrow asked with disgust. Zatara chuckled a bit.

"Sulfur, mostly," Zatara informed them. Green Arrow made a face like he was imaging the smell himself. "But sometimes I've heard that they can smell like rotting flesh and/or blood."

"That, is repulsive," Hawkwoman commented.

"Indeed," Martian Manhunter agreed.

"Yes, it's true, anything involving the senses can be attributed to mediums in how they can perceive spirits. These things can be mixed and matched as well."

"Wait wait wait," Flash began with laughter in his chest, "does that mean that there are mediums who can  _taste_ ghosts too?"

"I don't know. Do  _you_ go around trying to taste ghosts everyday?" Zatara asked sarcastically. This time the wave of laughter was heavier even though the Flash didn't join in.

"But  _can_ there be?" Black Canary asked. "You know, a medium who tastes ghosts."

Zatara scrunched up his face for a moment before answering. "In theory, yes. I wouldn't be surprised if I got word that there was a medium out there who doesn't know it and is wondering why sometimes their food tastes so funny." More laughter.

But as the laughter died down Superman's eyebrows knitted together in consideration. Then he spoke, "If any of the five senses can be used to sense ghosts, then... does that mean that there are people who can feel ghosts?"

"All mediums can feel ghosts," Zatara told him, but Superman just shook his head.

"No, not  _feel_ ghosts like sense their energy, but feel ghosts like  _touch_ them," he explained his thought process.

Zatara made a face like he had tasted something sour. He sighed, looked down at his shoes for a moment before flicking his head back up to gaze over the other League members. "I have heard of mediums that have more abilities than most," Zatara began. "Ones that can move between the plains of life and death. They're called Spiritwalkers."

An unsettling feeling filled up the room to its brim.

"They can see, hear, smell, taste I'd assume, and touch spirits. All of the senses one uses to perceive reality. They experience the spirit world in its physical form, as if they were there themselves," Zatara furthered. Some of the members shifted uncomfortable were they sat, picking up Zatara's uneasiness.

"While I'm not saying that if someone is a Spiritwalker they are inherently of ill will, I am saying that with this ability it tends to corrupt. Not many strong souls can or could bear the full immersion of death that is required in walking between the worlds.

"Mediums have their abilities because they are either born with it, passed down from a family member they are blood related to, or they gain it. Becoming a medium in this case can only happen when a person has had a brush with death," Zatara explained.

"Like a near death experience?" Flash questioned, and Zatara nodded.

"Exactly like a near death experience."

Zatara took in a shaky breath through his nose before he continued, not easing any tension. "During a near death experience a person comes back to this side with a touch of the other. That touch sometimes gives people the abilities of a medium, making them one themselves. What abilities a person gains depends on the severity of the experience."

"Severity?" Green Arrow asked.

"How long the person stayed dead," Zatara stated. Green Arrow's eyes widened and he let out a small realizing "oh" underneath his breath. "But anyway, when it comes to Spiritwalkers the ability is typically only passed down. So it's contained within certain families."

"So what does this all mean," Batman finally asked gruffly, but he said it like a statement. Zatara's eyes shifted to him after a short pause.

He sighed again. "It means that there are people who can be physically present within the spirit world, as well as being able to choose to take the form of a spirit even though they are not one. It's a very powerful and ominous ability to be able to manipulate life and death like that."

Batman didn't move. "Is this the type of person you think is responsible for the 'darkness' you spoke of before?" this time he really did ask in a questioning way. His words were unmistakably shrouded in knowing and uncertainty. A disturbing contradiction, with anything but irony.

"Yes, I believe it is," Zatara stated, his voice firm and unwavering. Batman's shoulders relaxed, but not with relief. "I believe that the person responsible for the disappearances of spirits I've told you about, along with the darkness, is a Spiritwalker. Someone, somehow, is changing what we know about the spirit world. I also believe that this person may be thinning the veil between our world and the next."

Zatara allowed the League members to soak in this new information, letting it stain their minds until they could no longer sit still. One by one, each hero looked to Zatara once again for something,  _anything._ What should they do? How would they find this person? How would they stop them? What would happen if they didn't?

"What now?" Wonder Woman voiced what they were all thinking. Zatara's shoulders tensed.

"Superman asked me a very similar question yesterday, and I told him that I did not know. I still do not know what we should do. All I can say is that I shall be putting up red flags in the magic community, asking around, doing something I've heard is called 'classic detective work'.

"I will be keeping an eye out for any activity, and I've already contacted all of the mediums I know for information. They've all told me that they'll be asking around as well, and looking to see if they can find any Spiritwalkers. Since, like I said before, spirit-walking is typically kept within a family finding who we're looking for should not be too difficult assuming they're open about their abilities," Zatara explained to them. They nodded and though it seemed like the meeting should be concluded, Batman stopped them with his voice.

"Two final questions," he said to Zatara. "One, what is the immediate threat if we do not address this problem?" It was a reasonable question. One that the other members were surprised the had not asked as of yet, but they supposed that that was because they trusted Zatara and if he was concerned then so were they. But Batman was more objective about these things though.

"The immediate threat," Zatara began, "is unknown to me at this time. I do not know what this person is planning on doing with these spirits, but I can tell that it is not good. Especially since this isn't bound to a controlled area. It's happening all over the world, spirits being taken. So whatever this is, it's going to affect everyone."

"Do you have any idea what this could be?" Hawkwoman asked. "Even just some possibilities would be nice to know."

Zatara thought on it for a moment before replying. "It's possible that whoever this is is planning on using the spirits he's 'collecting' for a controlling purpose," he suggested.

"Like a ghost army?" Flash asked, and Zatara couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"I know that it sounds ludicrous but it's a possibility," he told them.

"Any  _other_ possibilities?" Green Arrow asked, not taking "ghost army" for an answer.

Zatara sighed. "I suppose that it's possible, in theory, that 'whoever' is taking these spirits so that he can absorb their energy for 'whoever's' own use."

" _In theory?_ " Black Canary questioned.

"Yes,  _in theory_. And I say that because it would take an enormous amount power and ability to do that. Because Spiritwalkers experience the spirit world in a physical way, being able to take the energy from a spirit would be like a non magic user being able to suck the life out of someone on sheer will alone," Zatara explained. They all raised their eyebrows at that.

"Well that seems unlikely," Green Arrow said.

"And frightening," Flash commented.

"Exactly," Zatara said in point. He then looked to Batman for the second question.

"Alright," he began. "And secondly, if we do find whoever is doing this, how are we going to stop them if they can travel from our world to the spirit one?"

Zatara just shook his head. "Again, I'm not sure as of yet. Allow me to do more investigating and once I come up with a plan I shall brief you all of its nature," he told them. They all agreed and the meeting was adjourned.

With the memory still fresh in his mind, the problem ever forefront, Bruce finished his morning coffee and began heading towards the main entrance so that he could leave for the meeting he had in about forty five minutes.

But before he could get too far, he heard a bloodcurdling scream echo throughout the manor. Throughout all of Gotham he guessed. And the worst part? It came from the direction of Dick's room.

While the boy had had nightmares before, ones that had left him screaming for his parents, for help, for anyone or anything, those screams were nothing like this one. This scream was filled with the sound of physical pain, anguish, and unadulterated terror.

Bruce's feet couldn't move fast enough.

He tore up the stairs so quickly it felt like no more than a second had passed before he was throwing Dick's bedroom door open against the wall and rushing in. The first thing he noticed before anything else was the state of disarray the room was in.

Dick always kept everything in order, in its proper place. Yet, as he gave the room a quick glance, he saw items cast on the floor, clothing scattered everywhere, the closet doors wide open with the closet contents tossed out. There were a few broken things as well, glass items that had shattered on their journeys to meet the gray carpeted floor. It would've taken a lot of force to accomplish that.

The second thing he noticed was the sounds of the screaming he had heard before. It was still echoing into his ears, being projected out of Dick's throat. It sounded painful.

The third thing was Dick himself. Sitting straight up on his bed, eyes wide and pupils dilated into nonexistence, he screamed.

Seeing and assessing all of these things all but took about two seconds before Bruce was practically hurling himself towards his ward. Bruce grasped Dick's shoulders and upper arms, pulling Dick's back to lie flat against Bruce's chest. He held him as he thrashed against arms that held him, he was still screaming. With Bruce's arms wrapped around the boy, keeping him held tight, he eventually stopped thrashing as hard. As this occurred, the boy's screaming also began turning into nothing but gasping shouts.

"Dick, please, Dick, calm down. It's okay, I'm here," Bruce comforted, adding light shushes in between each bout of words. After about five minutes of calming down, Dick finally took one deep shaking breath in and he let it out slowly. He swallowed dryly, his throat sore from all of the screaming. His body was just beginning to relax after being so strenuously tense. He was quaking and shivering, as if he were cold.

And he  _was_ cold. Bruce didn't know why or how, but his skin was freezing to the touch. It felt as though he had been soaking in an ice bath all night long. None of the windows in his room were open, so that wasn't it. But there were no other logical explanations Bruce could think of at that moment, so he pushed it aside as a question for later.

Feeling his ward's more relaxed and leveled breathing, he finally felt compelled to speak. "Dick?" he asked with a touch of hesitation. Whatever had just happened  _scared_ him, and he wasn't supposed to get scared. Not like this.

"B-Bruce?" Dick's teeth were chattering as he said this, his voice scratchy and raw. He sounded afraid and confused.

It was then that Bruce noticed that Dick's lips were a dark purple color, more evidence to how cold he was. "Dick?" he said again. "Are you-" he cleared his throat, "are you alright?"

"I don't-" he tried to sputter something out, but he stopped. Bruce couldn't take waiting like this anymore.

"I'm going to take you to the med-bay, in the cave. Is that alright?" Dick nodded his head. It was only just then as Bruce looked up from Dick that he saw Alfred standing in the doorway. He looked just about as frightened as Bruce was.

"Okay, good."

Bruce then scooped him up into his arms. He felt Dick hang his arms around his shoulders, and he could feel his ward's trembles. Bruce attempted to warm the boy up a bit by holding him even tighter to his chest, but he didn't think anything but medical attention would help him at that moment.

"Master Bruce?" Alfred said shakily, questioning as to the events that had just occurred. Bruce shook his head.

"We need to get him to the med-bay," Bruce told him encase he hadn't heard over the past commotion. Alfred nodded vigorously and helped lead the way down into the cave.

Once they were there Bruce laid Dick down on one of the beds and he began hooking him up to some monitors while Alfred went to get a few heat preserving blankets.

"Alfred," Bruce called out, "call Leslie." Alfred nodded one more and went on his way again.

Bruce looked down at the boy he considered his son, sitting underneath the blankets of the bed while he was propped up against the pillows. His eyes flickered from his own hands resting in his lap to different places around the med-bay. He was picking at his fingernails and Bruce couldn't help but watch, seeing that his fingertips were blue like the irises of his wide and frightened eyes.

Bruce reached out his own hand to lay it on top of Dick's. The warmth of his skin seeped into his ward's. Dick finally looked up at him, making hesitant eye contact. Bruce could see the tracks of tears streaked down the sides of his face, his pupils were less dilated than they were before but still filled with dread.

Bruce stayed still, trying to somehow give Dick some of his most calming energy. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. Dick just swallowed heavily, not breaking eye contact, and he kept breathing very slowly. Almost carefully. Like he was afraid that if he breathed too quickly something would jump down his throat. Bruce wouldn't've been surprised if that's exactly what he feared.

"I don't know," Dick confessed. Bruce nodded, seeing his confusion and weariness. It was almost like when Bruce had first brought him home, except this was much much worse.

"If not now," Bruce began, "then later. But eventually." Their unwavering eye contact was broken when both Alfred and Leslie came into the room. Both of them carrying blankets, and Leslie looking very concerned.

"What happened?" she asked as they approached. Alfred immediately began layering blanket upon blanket on top of Dick's body. Dick gave Alfred a forced shaky smile in thanks, and Alfred returned the favor.

"We don't know," Bruce simply stated. He looked to Dick when he said this, but Dick just looked away.

"Okay, not very helpful. Where's your thermometer again?" she asked. Alfred handed it to her, already at the ready. She had Dick stick it under his tongue and they waited.

Once the beep sounded, Dick opened his mouth to let the device out and Leslie looked at it with a puzzled expression.

"He has a temperature of ninety three degrees Fahrenheit, Bruce. That's into hypothermia," she told them, confusion written all over her face. "Alfred, go make him some warm tea. Nothing with caffeine in it," she instructed Alfred. He nodded and rushed off to complete his new task, a welcome momentary distraction.

"We'll have to keep warming him with these blankets around his trunk, after he's warmed to at least ninety six degrees can we begin worrying about his hands and feet." Bruce nodded, knowing full and well the crash treatment for hypothermia. But he wanted Leslie here to do it, to make him feel more secure that everything that could be done was being done.

"Thank you, Leslie," he told her. She just nodded and looked to him for something like an explanation as to what had happened here. It wasn't nearly cold enough outside for Dick to have gotten hypothermia, even if he was out all night. Bruce knew this, and Bruce knew that she knew this. But there wasn't much to say. None of it made sense and he couldn't give her what she wanted.

So he just shook his head at her, queuing her to realize the he had just about as much of a clue as she did.

Dick just sat and looked between the two of them, reading their expressions and picking up their silent conversation. But he couldn't focus on them any longer. His head slumped and his hands went up to catch it. Bruce saw this and his hand once again moved to grasp Dick's upper arm, hoping to bring some kind of comfort to him.

"Dick, tell me what happened," Bruce pleaded. Bruce  _never_ pleaded. Dick let his eyes once again float up to meet Bruce's, then he shot a glance at Leslie and she took the hint.

"I'm gonna go, uh, help Alfred with the tea," she fibbed. Dick sighed a bit in relief and let his hands fall from his face.

Dick tilted his head into an upright position once more, and he let out a shaky sigh. "I don't know what to tell you," he breathed out. Bruce looked at him with understanding.

"Just tell me what's going on," Bruce said. Dick knew that he was not only referring to him waking up screaming but also to everything that had been going on in the past week. Bruce knew that the stress of coming out to him was not the reason for any of this. While it may have been the reason for something, it was not this.

"Honestly?" Dick asked.

Bruce nodded. "Yes, honestly."

Dick swallowed dryly. "Well,  _honestly_ , I have no clue."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really really really really really really love cliffhangers oh gosh.
> 
> please tell me what you think in a review! ;)
> 
> P.S. To YunaDragneel and Qwerty, this is the updated version of this chapter! Tell me if it's more clear now! ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After such a positive response, here's chapter six!! I'm not sure how many more chapters this will end up being, but by the end of this one we're in the midst of it. I hope that you guys are pleased with where I'm going with this story, and will continue to read as I continue to update! :D

“Start from the beginning then.”

Several minutes of mumbling, blabbering, and avoiding on Dick’s part was leaving Bruce on the brink of frustration. Bruce knew that Dick knew more about this dream he had than he was letting on, even if he really didn’t know what it meant. But of course, Dick was doing everything he could to avoid telling Bruce anything.

“There’s no beginning to start from,” Dick said lightly but with a gruff edge. “I don’t know what the dream was about, all I know was that it was scary. Maybe Scarecrow poised me with a new strain of toxin the last time we fought him?” Dick suggested, pushing the subject farther away from himself.

Bruce considered this. But the last time they had fought Scarecrow was nearly two months ago, and if he had poised Dick with anything there would have been signs earlier on. Not just the past week.

“No, that’s not it,” Bruce stated firmly. “I thought we were going to be honest, here,” he jabbed. Dick made a face at the word ‘honest’, letting Bruce know that he was being anything but truthful about this whole subject.

Dick composed himself once more. “We are,” he lied. Bruce frowned at him with a mixture of disappointment and agitation.

“No, no we’re not,” Bruce replied, letting Dick know that he was just about done with all of this. Dick got the message loud and clear. But still he couldn’t find it within himself to say anything in the realm of the truth.

“Okay, well, I guess I just don’t know what I’m supposed to tell you,” he settled.

Bruce sighed. “The _truth_.”

“The truth isn’t exactly believable. Or plausible,” Dick huffed quietly. Bruce felt something relax within himself, knowing that he was finally getting through to his ward. Dick knew that, no matter how much he didn't like it, at this point he had to tell the truth. Or at least try to.

Bruce couldn’t help but laugh a bit though at Dick’s words. “In the world we live in?” Bruce said. “Aliens, superpowers, magic, a fifteen year old boy who runs around a night fighting criminals with a man dressed like a bat?” Dick nearly burst out laughing at the last bit, the shaking in his body beginning to ease. Bruce chuckled too before continuing. “The world is strange, Dick, and it keeps on getting stranger. So no matter what you tell me, as long as it’s the truth, _your_ truth, I’ll believe you.”

“I know, you just-” Dick began before breaking off with a sigh. “Just please hear me out?” He looked to his surrogate father with pleading eyes.

“That’s what I've said I'll do, Dick. You know I keep my word,” Bruce stated. Dick nodded, and released a long breath. He shifted his weight a bit, using his arms to push himself up into a more suitable position. Once he was sitting up straight, making more eye contact with Bruce than he wanted, he decided that it was now or never.

“Okay,” he began, “so basically the first thing you have to believe is that there are, well, there are such things as ghosts.” Dick paused momentarily, waiting for a reaction. Bruce just raised an eyebrow in something related to confusion.

“Don’t mind me mentioning,” Bruce interjected, “but I already know that ghosts exist,” he stated.

“Wait- what?” Dick sputtered. His jaw hung slack, his eyebrows furrowed and his body ridden with confusion, positively stunned.

Bruce nodded. “Yesterday Zatara explained this fact, along with the things related to it, to some of the top League members,” he explained. Dick remained frozen. “Zatara brought up this a topic among the League due to a concern of his. I won’t go into too much detail unless absolutely necessary, but said concern involves the ‘spirit world’ and those who can see into it.”

Dick didn’t move for about five more seconds before nodding his head slowly. “This,” he finally said, “wouldn’t have anything to do with the shift in the spirit world about a week ago?”

Now Bruce was the one to be stunned. “Yes,” he told him, “yes it does. How do you...?”

“Well, that may or may not be why I think I had the dream, actually,” Dick answered.

“Okay,” Bruce said slowly, trying to organize his thoughts. “What does this have to do with you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“What it has to do with me, I guess, _is_ the big secret."

“Okay,” Bruce said again, less slowly this time. “So...”

“I see dead people,” Dick stated bluntly. He thought on his own words for a moment, before saying, “That’s the line from _The Sixth Sense_ , isn’t it.”

“Yes, yes it is,” Bruce replied and Dick wanted to smack himself in the face. But then Bruce spoke up again before Dick could explain further. “So, you’re a medium?” Bruce almost couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. Even with all of his new knowledge about the realities of their world, knowing that his son could see the souls of the dead was both shocking and unnerving.

Dick found himself stunned once more. “Yeah, yeah I am,” he began. “And I’m guessing Zatara told you and the League all about it?” Bruce nodded.

“Okay, then. That makes this explanation much simpler,” he said with a bit of relief. “I’d always imagined this conversation going quite differently,” he laughed.

Bruce nodded once more, almost relieved that he didn’t have to take the “spirit world” explanation from Dick. Though, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that Dick hadn't felt like he could tell Bruce this earlier. It was like him coming out all over again. Except this time, his secret was much more dire. “I guess so,” he said.

There was a lapse of silence before either of the two could find reason to speak again.

“So, how long have you been able to...” Bruce made a vague hand gesture that referred to his ability “see ghosts.” Dick had to stifle a laugh at how ridiculous this all was, and how this conversation highly resembled the whole “I’m gay” conversation as well.

“I’ve been able to see them since just after I my parents die,” Dick told him. Bruce nodded once more, before letting a questioning look slip into his expression.

“Based on what Zatara explained to the League and I,” he started, “it would seem that the only way to gain the abilities of a medium, if not passed down by blood, would be through having a near death experience.” Dick nodded, since he had thought about this fact some time before.

“I’ve always assumed, given that I never got to learn about my family beyond what I know about my parents, that there must’ve been someone in my family who was a medium that passed it down to me. I’ve also always assumed that since I saw my parents, you know, that that was what triggered my abilities,” he explained.

“That would make sense,” Bruce agreed. “Which brings me to my next question: what type of medium are you?”

“Meaning?” Dick asked, not quite sure what Bruce wanted to know.

“Zatara told us about the different types of mediums. Some who can only sense spirits, some who can only hear them-”

“Oh,” Dick interrupted him, “Yeah, I can hear and see ghosts. I don’t know if there’s a specific name for that though...” he trailed off.

“Zatara says there isn’t,” Bruce informed him, Dick hummed and nodded once. Something like consciousness of what was happening hit Dick at that moment, suddenly all of the fear of this conversation had been dashed into oblivion by the casual air that wafted over them.

“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. Like, for real talking about this,” Dick laughed in disbelief. “Like, actually having a casual conversation about the fact that I see and talk to dead people.” Bruce couldn’t help but let out a breathy chuckle at that.

“Like I said before, we live in a strange world.” Dick looked down at his hands briefly before smiling up at Bruce.

“We really do.” Bruce sighed, processing all the new information.

“So,” he began, “what exactly just happened, and how does it connect to your abilities?” Dick felt himself tense up again, he was hoping that he had managed to avoid this.

“I’m not really sure, actually. All I know is that I was dreaming that I was running through a forest. I was in my uniform but I wasn’t wearing any gloves or shoes, my mask was missing too along with my belt. It was just really cold, and dark, and a voice kept saying ‘Robin’ but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Then I fell, and suddenly my friend Reggy-”

“Wait,” Bruce interrupted him, “Reginald Wimsworth? The boy who died a few months ago?”

“Yeah, that’s him. He’s been following me around for the past few months. But a couple of weeks ago he disappeared, until I saw him again tonight.”

“Zatara said that spirits all over the world have been disappearing,” Bruce told him. Dick furrowed his brow, knowing now that at least he wasn’t the only one noticing disappearances.

“Yeah, it’s been happening a lot recently. Anyway, suddenly Reggy was there and he seemed really scared. He just told me about being taken, that he was walking into the light- or what looked like the light- before feeling really cold and being taken. Before he could tell me anything else he disappeared, and before I knew it I was sitting up in bed screaming.”

“Do you know why were you screaming?”

Dick shivered at the memory. “All I know is that I couldn’t control it. Everything hurt and I couldn’t move or stop screaming, until you came in and snapped me out of it. It was like I was trapped in my own body.” Dick could see the cogs working in Bruce’s head, wrinkles forming on his forehead in deep concern.

“We should tell Zatara about this,” he suggested, though it felt more like a statement.

Dick considered this for a moment. He knew Zatara was a powerful and knowledgeable man when it came to the supernatural, and even if Zatara himself couldn’t help Dick one of his medium friends might be able to.  “Do you think he really could help?”

“I do.” It was settled then. Leslie came back down the stairs with Alfred a moment later, tea steaming in hand.

“Let’s check your temp.” The doctor placed a thermometer under his tongue. “Okay, 97.2 degrees Fahrenheit, we are in the clear. Now I’m gonna get more things to help warm you up.”

Alfred set Dick’s tea down on the tray of the bed. “Is there anything else you need Master Richard?”

Dick smiled. “I’m alright, Alfred. I’ll probably just sleep once I’m warmed up enough.”

“Of course.” Alfred nodded, turning to go help Leslie.

Bruce reached out and took Dick’s hand, squeezing it in a comforting gesture. “We’re going to figure this out.”

“I sure hope so.”

* * *

Soaring into action at the latest villain the team was meant to fight, Robin felt lighter than he ever had before.

Bruce finally knew, and Robin couldn’t be more overjoyed with the way things had gone. He knew that he still had to tell his team, Wally in particular, but it didn’t matter for the moment. Soon he was going to see Zatara with Bruce, and he was optimistic about learning exactly what was happening to him and to the spirit realm.

As of right at this moment though, all Robin had to worry about was whatever the hell it was they were fighting.

Robin channeled the just right amount of force into his right foot as he braced for impact on the thing they were up against. His blow caused the thing to yell in anger and pain. But it couldn’t retaliate in time before Robin was gone.

“Robin,” Kaldur began as said bird landed next to him, “have you been able to assess its weaknesses?”

Robin nodded. “Yeah, if we focus our attacks there,” he pointed, “there, and there we should be able to take it down.” Kaldur acknowledged this with a nod before telling the team over the telepathic link M’gann had set up.

 _“All at once, or multiple at a time?”_ Artemis inquired over the link.

 _“Multiple at a time. We don’t want to exert all of our forces and energy at one time alone,”_ Kaldur instructed. _“Superboy and Artemis, you two attack first. Then myself and Kid Flash, and finally Miss Martian and Robin. Clear?”_

 _“Clear,”_ they all responded at once.

 _“Alrighty then, let’s get this party started,”_ Wally said slyly before beginning his distraction of the creature, running in various directions about it. Robin, M’gann, and Kaldur joined in on this diversion while Superboy and Artemis began their ascent.

Artemis shot multiple arrows, all of different weaponry, most of them exploded however. Superboy merely used the blunt force of his fists at each weak spot Robin had found. Only when the creature began attacking back at Artemis and Superboy did they retreat.

Kaldur and Kid Flash were up next. Once Artemis and Superboy had rejoined the ranks of the rest, the two boys sprung into action. Their efforts causing more damage this time, the thing was being worn down with each blow. M’gann and Robin knew then that they’d be the ones to deliver the final blows.

They were up. M’gann using her powers to throw various objects at their opponent, Robin tossing bombs and various other lethal things at the points he had found. The thing, that they were unable to identify, finally crumpled to the ground after some more deserved pelting.

“Thank god that’s over,” Kid said as M’gann and Robin walked up to the rest of the team.

“You’re telling me,” Artemis scoffed.

“Good job, team. I’ve just reported to Batman of our success,” Kaldur praised. “I’d like to give credit where credit is due this mission to Robin, for finding the weak points we needed to take down this enemy.” Robin nodded in acknowledgement of his leader and Wally threw his arm around him, pulling him close. “I will be reflecting on each of your efforts accordingly in my field report,” Kaldur finished, then directing the team towards the bioship. While M’gann unable to keep herself from excitedly going through their successful mission.

“That was just great!” M’gann exclaimed. “Don’t you guys think?” Superboy made a noise that meant yes, while the rest told her that they thought it was. Artemis took up her seat and began talking to M’gann about it, Superboy and Kaldur were going over certain fighting techniques used during the mission, while Kid and Robin sat next to each other with their fingers intertwined.

Just as M’gann commanded the bioship to begin its ascent, Kid Flash leaned over to Robin to pull him in for a kiss. Robin responded eagerly to the light and fond touch before they each pulled away. M’gann made an ‘aw’ noise, Artemis just smirked while Kaldur and Superboy paid them no mind.

“Great job today, babe,” Wally said affectionately. Robin just laughed at him for it.

“Thanks, _babe_ ,” Robin mocked, but Wally didn’t care. He let his face split into a toothy grin nonetheless.

“ _Team, do you copy_.” A voice suddenly rang out through the monitor of the bioship, Batman’s voice.

Kaldur was immediately at attention. “We copy, Batman. What’s the situation.”

“ _Ten miles from your location, at these coordinates, Klarion the Witch Boy has been spotted. It appears that he’s setting up some sort of spell. Intercept immediately, and hold him off from completing his task until a member of the League arrives_ ,” he explained.

“Affirmative, Batman. Rerouting our course now,” M’gann stated.

“ _Over and out_.” With that, Batman disconnected. The team looked around at each other, their faces displaying both their concern for having to deal with Klarion again as well as their fatigue from just having fought a battle.

“Okay, team. All we have to do is distract Klarion from completing his goal, which means that we shouldn’t have to spend all of our energy,” Kaldur instructed. “Just keep him in line.”

Everyone nodded, preparing themselves for the battle ahead.

* * *

 

The location of the coordinates Batman sent them was a large field, Klarion standing in the center drawing something on the ground with his magic. He was casting little spells here and there, turning up his efforts as his plan came together.

The bioship landed close by, but not in visible view of the place where Klarion stood. The team filed out and planned their attack.

“All right, team,” Kaldur began, “we are going to first surround Klarion and try to distract him from his task. If he does not waver, we will lightly attack to try and throw him off his game and destroy whatever it is that he is creating.”

Getting into formation, the team walked out into the field surrounding the Lord of Chaos.

“I was waiting for you children to show up,” he said, his nasally voice filled with snark.

“Klarion,” Kaldur spoke, “we order you to stop your spell casting now, or else we will be forced to attack.”

The Witch Boy just laughed. “Attack then! Go ahead, we’ll see how this turns out for you disgusting mortal children.”

So they began their maneuvering.

A flurry of movement started around Klarion, he seemed unfazed as he continued manifesting new pieces to the image he was creating on the ground. It was a circle, charred with fire but red like blood burnt into the ground. There was an assortment of symbols scattered throughout the inside of the circle, each stranger than the last.

Wally rushed forward attempting to break the circle by running through it, but he was pushed back by an invisible force. The rest of the team was experiencing something similar. No matter how much they went at the circle, at Klarion, trying to break up his progress in the spell.

Klarion just broke into his face splitting grin. “It’s too late kiddos!” The team ignored him and continued to try to break through.

While this was going on, Robin could only stop and look at exactly what Klarion was doing.

He wasn’t sure if his teammates could see it, but in front of him was a shimmering dome. Klarion in the center, surrounded by symbols swirling around him on the dome that was encapsulating him. It was glowing purple with wisps of black flowing out of it, and Robin could only stare in frozen horrified awe.

It felt cold. Like the cold that he felt in his nightmare.

 _Is Klarion the one behind what’s been going on?_ Robin asked himself. 

“Klarion!” Robin yelled. The team barely noticed, but Klarion looked up.

He raised his eyebrows in shock. “You can see it, can’t you?” he said.

“What…” Robin began, trying to gather his thoughts. But suddenly it was like he was being torn from reality again, and he was back in that forest. Except this time it was him and Klarion.

“So, you’re the one.” Klarion said. He almost seemed pleased, in addition to being shocked.

“What do you mean? What’s going on, where are we?” Robin couldn’t help but let his mind go into overdrive. Looking around all he could see was the forest soaked in darkness. This time, he was still wearing his full Robin suit luckily.

Klarion scoffed. “And, of course you have no idea what _this_ ,” he gestured to the forest around them, “is. Typical.”

Robin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What, so you’re not going to explain what the heck is going on to me?” he spat out incredulously.

“No, I'm not,” Klarion said, walking around in a circle around Robin examining him closely. “But I am going to use this new information to my advantage, so thank you for that!”

Robin paused for a moment, taking in all of this new information. “Are you the one who’s behind all of the disturbances and disappearances in the spirit world?”

Klarion hummed. “Unfortunately, no. But I am trying to help that person right now, so if you and your little team could leave I would appreciate it.”

“Are you kidding me?” Robin shouted. “Why are you doing this?”

Klarion just smiled. “Why else?”

Robin watched as Klarion's form began to fade away into darkness. “Chaos.”

In that instant, Robin was back in the field. Except he was lying on the ground, feeling as cold as he had from his nightmare. But this time, it wasn’t a nightmare. He was awake, he hadn’t fallen asleep even once.

“Robin! Are you okay?” Kid Flash was above him, shaking his shoulders as Robin’s eyes flickered open.

He groaned, feeling pain radiate all over his body. “What happened?” His voice was like gravel, and he could barely move.

“We were trying to fight Klarion when suddenly you fell over. As soon as we looked, Klarion disappeared,” Kid Flash explained, helping Robin sit up.

“He just, disappeared?” Robin asked. Before any of his concerned teammates could respond however, Zatara, Superman, and Batman were there.

“What happened?” Zatara demanded, looking around the scene with a mix of anger and concern.

“We are not sure, Zatara,” Kaldur said, standing to greet the League members. Superman walked over to Kaldur to hear his report, when Batman saw Robin on the ground.

He briskly walked over to him. “Robin, are you alright?”

Finally standing, Robin just shook his head pressing his hand to his face.

Batman placed a hand on his shoulder to lead him away. “Tell me what happened when we get back to the manor,” he said. Robin nodded, heading towards the batmobile.

Before they got there however, Zatara turned and spoke.

“Robin.”

Robin and Batman both stopped.

Zatara waited for Robin to turn to him to be addressed. Once he did Zatara took in his image for a moment. “Do you know what happened here?” he asked.

Robin licked his lips nervously. “I’m not sure.”

Zatara nodded, his thoughts playing behind his eyes in quick motion. “We need to talk.”

Robin looked from Zatara, to Batman, and back again. “Okay,” he decided.

Zatara nodded, and in a burst of light they were both whisked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Kudos and comments are always appreciated.
> 
> In addition, I've posted this fic on my tumblr too so reblog it there too! --> http://briennejamie.tumblr.com/post/158752139754/misguided-ghosts-ch-1


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